


Lost On The Roof

by chubby_seal



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Blood and Violence, F/M, First Kiss, Mentions of Rape, Mood ring hair, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Verbal Abuse, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 35,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22682866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chubby_seal/pseuds/chubby_seal
Summary: (This story starts a few months after the events of the Musical).Tags subject to change.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 76





	1. The Return

The day was like any other Tuesday for Lydia Deetz; go to school; come home, have dinner with Delia, Dad, Adam, and Barbara; and play games afterward. Just like the family does every Tuesday night. Every week was almost the same repetitive schedule, it got to the point where it was starting to get Lydia down. There was nothing really exciting about her life anymore. Adam and Barbara are starting to take on more roles in parenting Lydia. To the goth teen, the Maitlands can sometimes be super boring and lame, but she still loves them. Her dad and step-mom started working more and were gone most of the week and almost every weekend.

That Tuesday felt different as Lydia got dressed for school. She couldn’t figure out why it felt different, but it just did. Lydia was extra cautious riding her bike to school. She felt like someone was following her. Lydia always has a small pocket knife in her backpack, just in case. She made it to school safely, but when she reached the parking lot, a red sports car zoomed by Lydia; almost causing her to fall over. It was Claire Brewster, the most popular girl in school. Lydia just ignored her like always and kept going.

After lunch, she went to the small bathroom in the East Wing before her 5th class. Lydia always goes in that bathroom; it’s creepy looking, smaller, always warm in the winter months, and is rarely used. She looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly heard a loud _poof_ sound. Lydia pulled out her pocket knife from her backpack and flicked it open. The noise from the knife made someone startle. _I am not here alone!_ Lydia screamed to herself as fear and panic started to stir inside her chest. She looked through the stall doors, heart racing. She opened the last one and saw a ball of purple hair, black and white striped clothes curled up in the corner of the stall, with its back towards Lydia. She instantly knew who it was.

It was Beetlejuice.

Lydia gasped at the sight of the ghost demon. Beetlejuice heard Lydia and slowly turned his head towards her. He had tears soaking his face and shirt, and his eyes had a red tint over his normal yellow glowing eyes. Lydia froze where she stood. She didn’t know what to say! She couldn’t believe he was right in front of her!

“Lydia? Is that you?” He asked slowly, his voice more gravelly than normal.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” She raised her voice at him, trying not to sound scared. _Why do I sound so scared? I’m not scared of him! Am I?_

“Lyds! It is you!” He threw his arms up, floated up fast and rushed towards Lydia, his deep purple hair turning his normal green. She backed up and stuck the small pocket knife further out. She got ready to lunge and stab if she needed to. Beetlejuice saw how she reacted and lowered his head and floated back. His hair was now turning soft blue; he lowered his arms.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, babes….” Beetlejuice sounded sorry. But Lydia never lowered the knife.

“Why are you here?” Lydia asked harshly. He didn’t look Lydia in her eyes. He looked worse than when she first met him on the roof all those months ago. His hair was a tangled up dirty mess, his suit was covered in dust and dirt, his face had thick random patches of dirt, and his beard needed to be trimmed.

“That’s kind of a long story, ba-”

“Make it quick! I don’t have all day.” Lydia interrupted Beetlejuice.

“I basically got kicked out of the Netherworld for a while for what I did to ya and your folks. Look, I get it if ya still mad at me, that’s why I’m here. I thought that you would hear me out. Of all my thousand years of being dead, you are the only breather to truly see me. And that’s what I like about ya. You were a great friend to me.” In the last few lines, he finally looked Lydia in the eyes and grinned, not a scary monster grin, but a soft grin, a grin that felt real and honest.

“Really?” Lydia asked, lowering the knife.

“Really. Until that part when you stabbed me,” BJ said sarcastically. Lydia just raised her eyebrows and didn’t say anything. “I just want to apologize to you and your parents and the Maitlands. Do you think that they will forgive me?” Beetlejuice asked, now shyly.

Lydia didn’t know how to answer. She suddenly had a flashback of everything Beetlejuice did to them: he possessed the Maitlands on the roof; kicked everyone out of the house; together they scared people; he tried the whole green card marriage thing; he almost killed everyone; then he also saved everyone from Juno. The bell rang and broke her out of her thoughts. She panicked, grabbing her backpack and ran out of the bathroom. Lydia’s last two classes were all a blur, she couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened.

 _This must be a dream!_ Lydia thought. _He possibly can’t be back, he just can’t. Should I let him explain himself? Should I give him a second chance? Should I even let him apologize at all? I have the power to send his little butt back to the stupid Netherworld. When we scared all those people, we had fun. For a minute, I was happy, and I saw him more than just a dead guy. I saw him as a best friend._ Lydia shook her head, she shocked herself for saying that last part. _Best friend?_ That word kept ringing in her ears until class was over. She still had one more class to think about his request.

The last class was over. She went to her locker, grabbed the books she needed for homework. No sign of Beetlejuice. Lydia looked in the bathroom, no sign of him there either. She didn’t wait for him to show up, Lydia decided to go home. Lydia hopped on her bike and started her journey home. Lydia rode past the front gate of the cemetery, then out of nowhere, Beej popped up sitting on the wall. Lydia stopped instantly, laid her bike on the ground, and sat on the brick wall next to Beetlejuice.

“I made my decision. I want you to stay.” Beetlejuice’s hair started to brighten up.

“Thank you, Lydia. You will _not_ regret this. We are going to have so much fun.” His grin got wider and wider, showing off his sharp teeth.

“Not so fast. You can’t go ape crazy like you did when I summoned you the first time.” Lydia pointed at him.

“I promise I won’t try to do that again. The urge to be alive again is over. That’s not my goal anymore, Lyds,” Beetlejuice said, propping one leg up on the wall.

“I believe you BJ.”

*******

Adam was making a wooden jewelry box in the basement, and Charles was watching him. Barbara and Delia were in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Barbara floated over to the front door when she heard it open and close. Lydia walked in and greeted Barbara.

“Hi, sweetie! How was school?” the ghost mom said with a cheery voice. But her voice lowered when she saw Beetlejuice walk in the door slowly.

“Hey, Babs…” He said quietly.

“What is he doing here? ADAM! DELIA! CHARLES! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!” Barbara screamed. The ghost mom grabbed Lydia’s shoulders and yanked her away from the door. Everyone came running into the living room. Barbara stood guard in front of Lydia, Adam stood in front of Barbara. The Maitlands just stared at Beetlejuice, not saying a word. Charles and Delia came running in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Delia asked.

“Do you not see him?” Barbara asked. The Deetzes shook their heads.

“Oh, I’m sorry-- I forgot,” Lydia said from behind Barbara. “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” A poof of green smoke surrounded the ghost demon. Now Lydia could see him with more definition. Delia and Charles held on to each other the second he appeared. Suddenly four voices erupted all at once.

“If you hurt Lydia, I swear!” Adam snapped.

“Charles do something!” Delia squealed.

“You need to leave right now!” Barbara pointed to the door.

“Don’t you think about doing anything, you creep!” Charles turned his nose up. Lydia ran past both sets of parents and stood, arms out in front of Beetlejuice.

“Back off! He’s not here to hurt anyone! He came to me and asked for forgiveness for what he did. Now we are all going to sit down, and talk this out, calmly. He is not going _anywhere!_ ” Lydia screamed. Everyone stopped shouting and looked at each other. Beetlejuice stepped beside Lydia.

“I got this, babes.” he paused. “Hey guys, uh, long time no see, huh?” he stuttered. “Look, the kid is right. I’m not here to cause trouble or hurt anyone. I paid for my crimes. And to sum it all up, I did try to find my dad, no luck with that. And I got kicked out of the Netherworld for a few years. Now I have nowhere else to go. In this world, this house is the only place that I know of, and I called it home while I was here before. And-”

“Then, why are you back here?” Adam asked, now calm.

“I’m getting to that Adam. Barbara, Adam, I’m sorry for harassing you, calling you lame and possessing you.” Beetlejuice said, taking a step forward.

“I forgive you,” Barbara said, half-smiled. She looked at her husband, his face looked like he was still trying to process everything. Barbara elbowed Adam.

“I forgive you, too,” Adam blurted quickly.

“Debria, Chuck, I’m sorry,” Beej directed at Lydia’s Dad and Step-mom.

“It’s ok sweety, I forgive you too. You know, it’s healthy for the soul and mind to apologize and forgive those we hurt, and those that hurt us.” Delia said, stepping towards Beej and gave him an awkward handshake. Charles just stared at the ghost/demon and said nothing.

“Lydia,” Beetlejuice turned to Lydia, grabbing her hands. She didn’t flinch at his cold touch or pull away. “I’m really sorry kid. There’s just so much I need to apologize to you for.”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Beetlejuice swallowed hard.

He knew what was coming. _She lied to me at the cemetery! She said we were all right now. She’s going to make me leave! I was so stupid coming back._ Beetlejuice could tell that his hair was turning purple, because Lydia pulled her hands out of his, and cupped his face. Lydia looked into Beetlejuice’s eyes and smiled, he could see that she looked like she was about to start crying. Out of nowhere, he started crying.

“I already forgave you a long time ago. I forgave you the second you went back to the Netherworld. I thought about you for a very long time after you left. I acted like I didn’t care about you back then and I’m sorry for playing with your emotions. Ever since you left, I started caring for you. I missed scaring people with you, I missed you. I want you to stay forever. You’re like a smelly big brother to me.”

Lydia wiped tears from Beej’s face with her thumbs. Without warning, Beetlejuice lunged towards Lydia, hugging her. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her waist. He almost made her lose her balance. Lydia didn’t know what to do at first, she glanced at both sets of parents. Lydia started crying silently. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Beetlejuice tightly and laid her forehead on the top of his shoulder. They stayed like that for a good three minutes, letting Beej just get it all out. They let go and stood up.

“You can stay with us as long as you want to.” Delia smiled, putting her hands together, standing next to her husband. “Right, Charles?” She asked harshly under her breath. Charles stared at Delia, then at his daughter, then at Beetlejuice.

“I have not made my mind up just yet.” he said with his monotone voice.

“We agree with Delia, you can stay as long as you want.” Adam and Barbara said at the same time, they looked at each other and smiled. Which made Beetlejuice puke on the inside.

“Thank you so much. I love you guys! You have no idea how much this means to me.” Lydia smiled, quickly hugging and giving cheek kisses to all of her parents.

*******

That night after dinner, they decided not to play games this week. Charles had to leave early the next morning, and Delia had to get her ducks in a row for her art gallery exhibition that Friday afternoon. It was 8 o’clock, and everyone got ready for bed. Charles and Delia went to bed, the Mailands stayed up playing card games, Beetlejuice and Lydia stayed in her room talking about all kinds of stuff. Lydia’s got a dozen blankets in her room, Lyds and Beej spread all the blankets out on the floor. She changed into a plain black shirt and long, fluffy navy blue pajama pants. Lydia put on a Pink Floyd vinyl record, Beetlejuice looked through Lydia’s photo album of her photographs; and Lydia was reading _Frankenstein._

“These are amazing pictures, Lyds,” Beetlejuice commented, flipping through the pages.

“Thank you. You know, I was thinking about going to college to be a photographer and maybe work at a newspaper company.”

“I love that idea! I think that you would be amazing at it,” Beej said. He flipped the page he was on and noticed a random picture of a beautiful woman with short, thick blonde hair. The photo was carefully paced in photo corners.

“Hey, babes, who’s this?” He asked, taking the picture out from the book and held it up. Lydia looked up, saw what he found, snatched it from Beej’s fingers, and held it close to her chest.

“It’s Emily…” she whispered, gently tucking the picture in her book and closing it.

“Is it still hard to talk about her?” Beej asked, scooting closer to Lydia.

“Some days are harder than others. I think of her when it rains…” Her train of thought left her.

It got deadly silent for a minute. Lydia stared at the floor. Beej didn’t know what to do or say, so he said the first thing that popped in his head.

“Hey kid, you know that if you want to ever talk about her, you can. I’ll even talk about my mom if you want me to. I have _all_ kinds of horrible stories about her.” _You idiot! That’s the best thing you could come up with?_ He cussed himself out in his head.

“I appreciate the offer, but I just don’t feel like talking right now.” Lydia looked at Beej.

“My mom was so bad, one time she left for a whole year. Turns out she was drinking so much that she thought she lived at that bar.” Beej said in his cocky voice. Lydia started laughing. “Hey! What’s so funny about child abandonment for booze?” He said sarcastically. Lydia squinted her eyes and started laughing harder.

“That sounds like the start of a corny ‘your mama’ joke!” Lydia spat out in between breaths of laughter. She fell on the floor from laughing so hard. When she opened her eyes, Beetlejuice was smiling at her, and not the creepy or scary kind either. She stopped laughing and smiled back. “Why are you smiling?” she asked.

“Because you are happy.”

“What do you mean?” Beetlejuice’s hair started forming yellow streaks. His eyes got bigger than normal when she asked him that. He stopped smiling and brought his knees up to his chest and hugged his knees.

“Can I be honest with you?” he sheepishly whispered. _He sounds serious._ Lydia thought to herself.

“Of course. Were bf-f-f-f-f-f’s forever, remember?” Lydia sat up and playfully hit BJ’s arm.

“Pinky promise you won’t get mad at me?” He whispered, not looking Lydia in the eyes.

“I pinky promise,” Lydia said softly and gently. She stuck out her pinky finger. Beetlejuice looked at her hand and wrapped his pinky around hers.

“Before I came to your school today to talk to you, I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks.”

“Where at? You were stalking me?” Lydia raised her voice accidentally.

“No, no, no. Not anywhere near your house. You and the Maitlands would see me. So I’ve been going back and forth between the library and the cemetery. And all the times I’ve seen you, Lyds, you didn’t look happy. I could feel negative energy coming off of you.” Beetlejuice explained.

“Sorry, I overreacted. And you’re right. I _haven’t_ been happy for a while. After mom died, the Juicing, and you leaving, I was unhappy.” Lydia said, standing up. She put her book back on the shelf, walked back to BJ, and sat next to him. He loosened up, letting his legs relax on the blankets. He didn’t say anything for a few heartbeats.

“Hey, come with me. I want to show you something.” He suddenly got excited, jumping to his feet.

“Where?” Lydia asked. The ghost didn’t say anything but pointed towards the window. He walked over to the window and noticed it was bolted shut. The frame was covered with thick nails and bolts.

“Kid, why’s your window bolted?” he asked, turning his head. Lydia walked towards the window and shyly fiddled with the bottom of her shirt.

“So I wouldn’t try to jump off the roof again,” She said low and gently, staring out the window.

“Don’t worry babes, it’s not like we are going to push each other off the roof. We won't be out there long, it will be quick.” Beej touched the window frame, suddenly making all the bolts and nails vanish. He grabbed a blanket that was near his feet and stepped halfway out the window. “Do you trust me?” he asked, holding out his hand.

“Are we going to fly around on your little magic carpet, Aladdin?” Lydia replied sarcastically. Beetlejuice flattened his face at her. “And yes, I do trust you.”

Lydia reached out for Beetlejuice’s cold hand and helped her outside. The March night air felt pleasingly cool. Lydia’s knees started to shake when she looked down and saw how far she was from the ground. She let go of Beetlejuice’s hand and tightly squeezed both arms around his arm, and pulled in closer to him. His smelliness didn’t bother her as much anymore, she was used to it by now. He noticed she was scared and looked down at her.

“Babes, if you hold on to my arm any tighter, it might fall off!” he chuckled as he made his whole arm pop off from his shoulder. Lydia heard the pop and started to fall backward. Out of fear for her life, she dropped to the roof and grabbed his ankle. BJ laughed while he picked his arm back up and put it back on.

“DON’T **_EVER_** DO THAT AGAIN OR I’M GOING TO **_KILL YOU A SECOND TIME_** _!_ ” Lydia lifted her head up and screamed, eyes closed. Beetlejuice chuckled as he laid the blanket on the slanted part of the roof and lay down, placing his hands behind his head and crossing his legs.

“Come here.” He smiled. Lydia was still on her hands and knees, with a huff she carefully crawled on the blanket and lay on her back.

“Now close your eyes.”

“Why?” Lydia asked.

“Just humor me. Seriously, just do it.” Beetlejuice said with a snarky tone.

“Fine,” Lydia huffed.

Lydia closed her eyes. _At this point, I should expect him to pull some kind of prank or something._ Lydia waited; nothing happened. Then Beej whispered to her that she could open her eyes, and she did. Lydia gasped at what was before her, a dark night sky barely visible because of how many stars she could see. The sky was clear, not a single cloud in sight, and the stars in their constellations shine their brightest tonight. The stars were huge and bright! In Lydia’s imagination, it looked like she could just stand up, reach out her hand, and grab a handful of stars.

“Wow! I never would’ve had a view like this in New York; the light pollution up there is awful.” Lydia smiled.

“At this time of year, you can see Canis Minor, Carina, Cancer, Lynx, and Volans.” Beetlejuice randomly blurted, as soon as he said it, he tensed up.

“Why did you stop? I was listening.” Lydia asked gently.

“When I used to do that as a kid, Juno would yell at me.” Beetlejuice choked. Lydia looked up at his hair, which was slowly turning purple.

“Tell me what you know about the stars.” Lydia chimed, trying to distract him from thinking about Juno.

Beetlejuice told Lydia many stories about the stars: backstories, which constellation they belonged to, how they got their name, and random facts about space in general. Lydia loved hearing it, so she didn’t interrupt; she just let Beetlejuice go on and on and on. He also pointed out which planets and stars they could see with a naked eye. Around 3:30 am, Lydia was getting sleepy. She scooted closer to Beej and slowly closed her eyes.

“You're not tired, are you?” Beetlejuice playfully mocked her. She quickly opened her eyes and checked her phone for the time.

“Holy Crap! It’s three in the morning, and it’s a school night!” Lydia jumped up, quickly and carefully went back into her room and got in bed. Beetlejuice came in quickly after Lydia.

“Thank you for the astronomy lesson. Can we continue tomorrow night?” Lydia said, sitting up in her bed. Beej walked over to the side of the bed.

“Of course. Now get some sleep, you breather,” he responded, still using his mocking voice.

“Good night, Beej,” Lydia said quickly, getting under the covers.

“Where...uh do you want me…. to sleep?” Bj awkwardly asked.

“I think the Maitlands laid out some blankets for you up in the attic,” Lydia answered. He then left. Lydia was too tired to overthink anything like she normally does. She closed her eyes and fell right asleep.

Over the next two nights, Lydia and Beetlejuice spent up to four hours outside on the roof. Sometimes Lydia talked about what happened after Beej left. Other times they would talk about their moms. Wednesday night, Lydia fell asleep on Beetlejuice’s shoulder while he was talking about living through the Black Plague. After Lydia got really quiet, Beetlejuice noticed and gently carried her bridal style to her bed, tucked her in and went up to the attic.

*******

Lydia came home from school Friday afternoon and slammed the door behind her. Beetlejuice heard the loud _bam_ of the door and poofed in the living room.

“Babes!” He roared, throwing his arms up. Lydia smiled and greeted him back. Delia and Charles have been running around the house all day since the art gallery was tonight. Charles was putting all of Delia’s paintings and sculptures in the car.

“Charles dear! Where is my painting of the Dashound?” Delia screamed from the basement.

“I don’t know, dear!” Charles screamed from the kitchen, popping four Advils in his mouth.

“Have they been like this all day?” Lydia asked in a straight voice.

“Uh-hum. All freaking day!” Beetlejuice exaggerated.

“Where’s Barbra and Adam?” Lydia asked, putting her backpack on the kitchen table.

“They're out back in the garden, mate,” Beetlejuice answered with an Australian accent. Lydia chuckled at the joke. Adam poked his head into the house; he looked like he saw someone burn an antique coffee table.

“Beetlejuice! Get out here quick! There’s a giant copperhead out in the garden. Please kill it!” Adam squealed. Beej got very excited about being asked to kill something, so he quickly flew out of the house towards the garden.

*******

A few minutes later, Delia came up from the basement in a fancy long, very 80’s looking pattern dress. Charles was wearing a plain black and white tux and bow tie.

“Hello, sweetheart. Can you go upstairs and change? We're about to leave for the gallery in 30 minutes,” Delia asked, digging around the kitchen cabinets.

“Can I not go tonight? I don’t really feel like going.” Lydia slumped down into a kitchen table chair.

“Sweetheart, I don’t have the vibes to argue right now,” Delia snapped, breathing in her essential oils bracelet. She gave up looking through the cabinets and started digging through her purse.

“Lydia, don’t argue with your mother. Go change; you're not wearing that out to the exhibition.” Charles butted in harshly, still sitting at the kitchen table a few feet away from his goth daughter.

“Dad, for one thing, I have told you a million times, don’t call Delia my mom! Second, I’m not arguing with her; I just don’t want to go. And third, what is wrong with what I have on?” Lydia started raising her voice. She looked down at her outfit she wore for Casual Friday, which consisted of her long black skirt, fishnet leggings, red converse, and a short sleeve red shirt that looked like a spider web.

“We have talked about this, Lydia. Delia is your mother now. This gallery is really important to her. Please do us all a favor and change.” Charles huffed leaning forward in his chair with one hand on his knees and his other hand pointing at Lydia.

“I don’t care! I am not going!” Lydia screamed, fists clenched.

“You are coming with us and that is the end of this discussion! Do you understand me?!” Charles suddenly stood up very quickly, making Lydia jump. Lydia grunted angrily and ran to her bedroom, slamming the door and locking it.

*******

Beetlejuice successfully killed the copperhead. He knew that the Maitlands hated snakes, so he chased them around the back yard with its headless body. He was having a blast until Barbara grabbed the shovel and threatened to hit him with it. He ran inside the house, still laughing. He caught a glimpse of Lydia stomping to her room and slamming the door.

“Geeze, what’s up with her?” Beetlejuice asked sarcastically.

"None of your business, Lawrence," Charles snapped with an icy cold tone. Adam (still very frightened) and Barbara (still very angry) floated into the house.

"Is Lydia home yet from school, Charles?" Barbara asked.

"Yes. We asked her if she wanted to go to the art exhibition with me and Delia. She had a damn tantrum and locked herself in her room!" Charles stood up and started to go up the stairs to Lydia's room. Delia, the ghost parents, and Beetlejuice all followed Charles. He started banging on her door.

"Lydia Joyce Deetz! Unlock your door right now, young lady! You are coming whether you like it or not!" Charles started to get so angry, a forehead vein popped out. _Joyce is her middle name? That’s hilarious._ Beetlejuice thought to himself.

"Charles, why don't I try to talk to her?" Barbara asked softly.

"NO! Leave me alone, all of you!" Lydia screamed through the door.

"What led up to this?" Adam asked.

"All I did was-"

"They are forcing me to go and I don't want to!" Lydia interrupted her father.

"You're forcing her?" Beetlejuice asked with a confused twisted tone.

"N- no."

"Shut the hell up Dad! You're lying through your teeth!" Lydia interrupted again.

"If she doesn't want to go, then don't force her to go," Beetlejuice snapped, crossing his arms.

"She is going! That's the end of this discussion!" Charles erupted in total anger. Beetlejuice has never seen Chuck this ticked off before.

"You didn't even _ask_ her if she wanted to go. That's what _every_ good parent would do." Beetlejuice snapped leaning forward, arms still crossed. His hair started to get thin streaks of red.

"You're not even a parent! So how would _you_ know how to raise a child!"

Beetlejuice stared at her father for a good minute, his hair started fading to red.

"She's not a child! And I can take better care of Lyds then the two of you idiots combined!" Beetlejuice pushed his way past the Maitlands, pointing at Delia and Charles. The ghost's hair is now completely deep red. "NOW I AM GOING TO GO IN THERE AND TALK TO HER LIKE SHE'S A HUMAN BEING AND NOT LIKE SHE’S A DAMN ANIMAL! YOU ARE ACTING LIKE A ASSHAT!" Beetlejuice screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Later, losers." He lowered his voice and walked backward through Lydia's closed door. She was sitting on her bed, knees up to her chest. Tears soaked her shirt and her cheeks were bright red.

"Let's go out here and chat," Beetlejuice said gently standing beside Lydia’s bed.

He carried her bridal style to the window; he grew an extra arm so he could open the window. Once they were outside, he set her on the edge of the roof. She dangled her feet off the edge, he sat next to Lydia. He could hear Charles still banging on the door. _Chuck needs to quit bugging us._ He snapped his fingers and turned Charles into a giant beetle. Beej smiled when he heard screaming from on the other side of her door. They didn't talk for a good minute. Beetlejuice could hear Lydia breathing uneven and hard. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. _I'm glad I came back; she needs me. I want to kill that bastard she calls a father, but I don't think she would let me._ Beetlejuice thought to himself. Eventually, her breathing got slow and even.

"What happened, kid?" Beetlejuice asked her.

She proceeded to tell him everything that happened at school. Lydia got bullied hard today, not just by Claire Brewster. Kids at school call her horrible names, they broke into her locker and wrote slander in her notebooks. She gets bullied the most on Casual Friday, where the students can choose not to wear their usual uniforms. Lydia then started telling him about her dad forcing her to go and yelling at her just because she didn't feel like going. Beetlejuice didn't say anything; he just listened to her.

"I think they want you to go to support Delia. If you had your photos in a gallery, all of us wouldn't hesitate to be there to support you. That's just what I think about this whole screwed-up mess," Beetlejuice said calmly, looking Lydia in her beautiful blue eyes.

“You think I should go?” Lydia asked, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“I’m not going to tell ya what to do about that. I’m going to let you decide that for yourself,” Beej answered.

“I’ll go, but only because this is a big deal for Delia. She may not be my mom, but she’s my step-mom, and she’s trying to be a good parent.” Lydia said, standing up and heading back to her room. She unlocked and opened her door.

“Why is my dad a giant beetle?” Lydia turned quickly towards Beetlejuice.

“He was beginning to _bug_ me, kid.” He laughed.

“Change him back to normal, please,” Lydia said.

“Why would you ask me to do that? He deserved it. He was being an ass.” Beetlejuice kept laughing.

“I wasn’t _asking_ you. I was telling _you,_ ” Lydia snapped, crossing her arms. _Damn, when did she start getting defensive of that jerk?_

“Hey! You know I don't--. Fine!” Beetlejuice stuttered. He snapped his fingers, changing Charles back the way he was.

Lydia, Delia, and Charles apologized for all the awful stuff they said to each other. All of Delia’s artworks were in the car, ready to go. Beetlejuice suddenly felt anxiety start to swirl in his chest as the time got closer to 5 pm. He could feel his hands start to get really shaky. _I hate it when Lydia leaves, I begin to feel this way every single time she walks out that door._ Beetlejuice thought to himself, he noticed he started getting mini anxiety attacks when she leaves for school. Lydia came down the stairs with a different shirt on and a sketchbook in her hand. She gave the Maitlands a hug then stood in front of Beej.

“I just wanted to thank you for listening to me.” She smiled.

“Any... Anytime kid.” He stuttered. Beetlejuice put his hands in his pants pockets so Lydia couldn’t see how bad they were shaking.

“I wanted to give you this,” Lydia said as she pulled out an old small phone.

“What’s this for?” Beetlejuice took it from her outstretched hand, he forced himself to keep his hand steady. _I don’t think that she notices._ He thought to himself.

“It’s for you, so we can text each other while I’m gone.” She answered.

“Thank you,” Beetlejuice said quickly, putting his hand back in his pocket.

The car horn blared through the open front door, he could hear Delia’s high pitched voice calling Lydia’s name. She said bye to everyone and hurried out the door. After Barbara shut and locked the front door, Beej exhaled deeply and instantly felt his hair turn purple. _Again she leaves and I’m not with her. I hate this. I hate these feelings I have every time she leaves._ The deceased couple instantly noticed that something was off about the ghost/demon.

“Um. Do you want to play Mario Kart?” Adam asked.

“Yassss! Both of you are going down!” Beetlejuice got excited real quick. Almost immediately, he forgot those bad feelings about Lydia leaving. The three ghosts played Mario Kart all night till the Deetez’s got back home around midnight. Also, Lydia texted Beetlejuice about how boring the exhibition was until she found a goth painter. 

_I’m home. This is where I belong, and I’m not going anywhere!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (note from the author)
> 
> Hey everyone! This is the permanent version of this chapter. I tried to cut some parts out, but ended up adding in a few stuff (*facepalm*). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story so far! Leave a comment if you want and tell me what you think about the new version. And jump over to my Tumbler (hanna-arttt) and my Instagram (dino_chicken_nugg).


	2. THE CLONES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia comes home from school one day to find an overwhelming surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (TW: there's one part near the beginning of the chapter where Juno is being really mean to Beej and hurts him. Then after that, it gets happy.)

Two weeks have passed since Beetlejuice came back to the Maitlands/Deetz house. Charles is the only one in the house that still doesn’t completely trust Beetlejuice yet. Lydia sure does enjoy his presence in the house. Beetlejuice started pulling small pranks at first, but now, they’re starting to be more than just little jump scares. Adam is still jumpy, but when Barbara gets pranked, she goes Maitlands 2.0 on Beej (mostly twisting his arm).

One morning, Lydia was eating breakfast before school. She was tired and didn’t sleep well last night. Beetlejuice woke her up at 3 am because he wanted her to fix him some mac and cheese; Charles wouldn’t let him use any appliance in the kitchen.

"Lydia dear, do you know where my crystals are? The ones that go on my nightstand?" Delia asked from the other room.

"no," Lydia moaned drowsily. She put her empty bowl of cereal in the sink. Beej was sitting on top of the counter, covering his mouth, in a failed attempt to not laugh. His hair turned electric green.

"What did you do?" Lydia asked in a monotone voice.

Beetlejuice's face started turning red as he busted out with a loud gravelly laugh, something Lydia has not heard in months. Delia came in the kitchen wearing an 80's looking wind suit, and her hair up in a high ponytail. Her stepmom looked scared, but it was a different kind of scared; Lydia couldn’t figure it out. Lydia didn't love Delia, but nobody was going to be mean to her like this.

"What did you do?" She asked Beej again.

He didn't say anything but kept laughing. He was now laughing so hard, he was wheezing, he slipped off the countertop and on the title floor. He couldn't speak, he was laughing so hard. Beej’s whole face was now bright red. Lydia grabbed him by his tie and yanked up on it hard, he immediately stopped laughing.

"I’m not going to ask you again. Put her crystals back where they belong _now_." She snapped.

"But, but….. Lyds. I…. I….. I just…." Beej stuttered.

"Lawrence!" Lydia raised her voice, pulling him closer to her.

"Ok, ok, ok!" he muttered. He snapped his fingers and the purple and white crystals popped into Delia's hands. She grinned wide, thanked him and walked out of the kitchen. Lydia let go of his tie, causing his head to hit the floor hard.

"What was that all about?!" He gripped, rubbing the back of his head.

"I know that Delia and I don't get along, but you can't prank her like that!" Lydia yelled, grabbing her backpack.

"Whoah, hey. Where are you going? You’re leaving me?" He asked, his hair was starting to turn purple.

Lydia knew what that meant. She suddenly remembered him telling her about Juno asking him why his hair was always purple. She knew that he was probably remembering those bad things right now, Lydia could see it in his eyes. But she didn’t care; she was too ticked off to care.

"I’m going to school," Lydia said, walking towards the door.

"Can I come?" He asked nervously.

"No way! Not after what you did." Lydia turned her head. She opened the door, walked through it and closed it.

*******

Beetlejuice stared at the closed door. _Why am I like this? Why do I always do something to make people hate me?_ In a blink of an eye, he was suddenly in a different place. He did a 360, it looked like he was back in the Netherworld somewhere. All around him was the emptiness of space; dark, cold, and empty. Beetlejuice started to hear the familiar click-clack of his mother's heels on the hard floor. Out of nowhere, a million familiar voices started screaming in his head all at once. Beetlejuice jumped at the loud voices. He turned around to face his mother for the first time since he got her eaten by a Sandworm. She didn’t look like the old woman he remembered, Juno looked like she did when Beetlejuice was 7 or 8 years old; at a time when the abuse was the worst.

“Lawrence! She hates you, you really messed up this time!” the angry voice hissed. _She looks so real! This has to be a dream. It just has to be!_ Beetlejuice thought to himself.

“I know mom,” Beetlejuice whispered, quickly staring at the floor, trying to not make Juno mad.

“Why do you always have to mess things up?!” His mother’s voice suddenly got louder, and louder with each verbal punch. “You are a disappointment, just like your father! The kid obviously despises you now, so why don’t you just leave her?”

“no” Beetlejuice whispered under his breath.

 _Did I just say that out loud?_ He closed his eyes and tensed his body. Beetlejuice tucked his elbows close to his side to protect his ribs from imaginary punches. _This is just in my head! This is all just in my head! She can’t hurt me here. Can she?_ He knew what was coming, but he didn’t care.

“What did you say?” Juno hissed.

“I said ‘no’, Mom. I’m not going to leave her. You can’t make me, she needs me! And I want to stay with her!” Beetlejuice snapped, opening his eyes and raising his head to look dead into his mother’s dark eyes. Juno’s head pulled back in shock and surprise.

Suddenly, Juno raised her hand and slashed Beetlejuice across the face with her sharp fingernails. He instantly dropped to his knees and covered his face. Beetlejuice could feel thick, black blood gushing out of the gashes on his face. He couldn’t see because of the blood stinging his eyes. _I can’t breathe!_ Beej gasped in his head. The air around him became thick and heavy. All of a sudden, the ghost got tossed hard to his side by a hard kick to his ribs. The constant, sharp kicks to Beetlejuice’s ribs made it to where he couldn’t get up.

“STOP! MOM, STOP! PLEASE, MOM! MOM! STOP!” Beetlejuice screamed long and hard at the top of his lungs.

He screamed so loud, his throat felt like the tissue was being ripped apart. Beetlejuice felt like he was suffocating, screaming loud and his blood started to run into his mouth. Each kick to his ribs made it more impossible to breathe. And these kicks were anything but soft, it felt like Beej was being kicked by somebody with dried cement as legs. When Beetlejuice couldn’t scream any longer, he started to cry. And not just quiet crying, but a hyperventilating ugly cry.

 _Why?_ That was the only word that kept swirling around Beetlejuice’s head. _Why?_

The kicks stopped all of a sudden, the blood stopped dripping out of the wound. He snapped out of the delusion or whatever the heck that just was. He opened his eyes, back in the real world. Beetlejuice was still on the floor, his back against the front door in the Deetz/Maitland house. _What the hell just happened?!_ Adam stood over Beetlejuice, with a look of concern. Beetlejuice started to wipe his hands over his face violently.

“Hey, uh. Are you ok?” Adam asked, getting on his knees. Beetlejuice looked at his hands, no black blood.

“Yay, I’m fine.” Beej fake smiled, fighting back tears, and still trying to catch his breath. He quickly stood up and went upstairs to Lydia’s room. Adam didn’t try to catch up with him or say another word.

Beetlejuice stood in the middle of Lydia’s room, trying to gather his thoughts. He ran over to the window seat, grabbed a random blanket, wrapped himself in it, crawled under her bed, and silently cried. _That was_ no _dream! Was it a delusion? A flashback? How was she able to hurt me, and do so really bad? Why did it hurt so bad, why did she hurt me so bad? Why has she always been this way to me? What did I do to make her treat me this way? Why do I even still exist after all she has done to me? Why did she not listen to me all the times in my existence when I told her “no” or “stop”?_

Beetlejuice closed his eyes tightly and curled deeper into a ball. He didn’t realize until now that his whole body was violently shaking. All those thoughts that raced through his head continued. He remembered the last time he looked at himself in a mirror, it must have been over 50 years now. That day, in particular, was one of the worst days in his life (when he was living with his mom). Juno hurt him so badly, when she was done, Beetlejuice could barely stand. When he looked at his bruised and bloody reflection, he wanted to be dead for good. _Why was I born?! That woman just kept me around only for her benefit. Mom used me. Mom touched me wrong. Mom left bruises and scratches all over me. Mom starved me. Mom called me fat. Mom… Mom I hate you!_

The more and more Beetlejuice was inside his head, the darker the thoughts became. All the abusive memories that were rushing through Beej’s head made him horribly sick to his stomach, he felt like he was going to throw up all over under Lydia’s bed. _This is what happens, Lawrence, when you stand up against someone more powerful than you, and for what? Lydia hates me now, I could tell this morning, she wants me gone._

“Calm down, Lawrence. Calm down, Lawrence! CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN LAWRENCE!” Beetlejuice started screaming out loud, without realizing it. His voice and throat were extremely tender and raw, it hurt the more he screamed.

*******

“Beetlejuice?” Lydia whispered gently, that made Beetlejuice jerk his eyes open. She was on her knees peering under the bed; she was still in her school uniform.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Beetlejuice didn’t say anything, all that came out was incoherent mumbling. _Something is definitely wrong if he’s crying like this, curled up in a blanket under my bed._ Lydia thought to herself. _Is he having a panic attack?_ Lydia sat up, still on her knees, pulled out her phone and Googled answers on how to handle panic attacks. After a few minutes of searching, she peered back under her bed. Beetlejuice had his eyes closed again, his hair was still purple, and she now realized he was shaking like a leaf.

“Beej, open your eyes please,” Lydia said, using a Barbara-like gentle tone. He opened his eyes. She then slowly reached out her hand and lightly stroked his forehead. That helped him stop shaken a bit.

“Can you come out, and we can sit right here?” Lydia asked, patting the spot next to her on the floor.

Beetlejuice hesitated for a few heartbeats, then he slowly squeezed out from under Lydia’s bed. He readjusted his blanket, Lydia gently dusted him off. _How on earth did he manage to get under my bed?_ Lydia thought to herself.

“Do you want something to eat?” Lydia asked. Beej knotted. “I will be right back.”

Lydia came back from the kitchen with a box of cookies, a bag of chips, and a mixed flavored ICEE. She set the stuff down next to Beej, then sat on the thick rug next to him. He grabbed the ICEE, and slowly sipped on it. After five minutes, his hair eventually turned back to normal, but it still had a few thick purple streaks left. The two sat in silence, which felt like an eternity. Beej finished the ICEE, Lydia noticed his whole body was still shaking, but not as bad as before. Lydia scooted closer, and Beej put the side of his head to her chest.

“Can I listen to your heartbeat for a few minutes?” Beetlejuice whispered.

“Of course. Do you need anything else?” Lydia smiled.

“No,” Beej mumbled. He curled up tighter in his blanket as Lydia stroked her finger between his eyes. Eventually, the ghost fell asleep.

*******

A couple of days after Lydia helped Beetlejuice with his panic attack, she still didn’t know why he had one, she was scared to ask. He was still a little jumpy, and not scaring her parents, and they were enjoying that. Beej has been asking her if he could come to school with her, she kept telling him that she wasn’t ready to do that yet.

Lydia came home from school one day, walked through the front door, and went into the kitchen. The refrigerator door was wide open, and the kitchen was a disaster! Packages, food, wrappers were all over the floor; and the milk carton was leaking out all over the tile floor. _If Beetlejuice made all this mess, I’m gonna kick his ass!_ Lydia put the milk back up and closed the fridge door. When she went over to the sink to grab paper towels, she heard a rustling noise coming from the pantry. She grabbed a wooden spoon and opened the cabinet. Lydia expected to find Beetlejuice bunched up in the pantry shoving food in his mouth. But that’s not what she found. A child with green hair, stains all over their face and clothes, was in the middle of shoving a honey bun in its mouth. _A child?_ It’s wearing a striped suit, _wait. A striped suit?_ Once it saw Lydia, it got scared and crawled up in the corner of the pantry.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you. Come here.” Lydia smiled, holding out her hand.

The kid hesitated a minute then slowly crawled closer to Lydia. In the light, she could see more details about him. The kid has big eyes, faint freckles, and very messy green hair. Lydia sat him on the countertop, the kid’s striped jacket was three inches too big for him, and he was wearing teal-colored crocs, purple socks, purple button-up undershirt, and a black tie. _Beetlejuice definitely has something to do with this kid. Maybe he’s a clone!_ Lydia remembered faintly about the clones when they were scaring people after they kicked her parents out of the house. The kid finished chewing the honey bun when Lydia also noticed that the kid’s face is covered in food stains and some dirt here and there.

“What’s your name?” Lydia asked, wetting a paper towel and started wiping the kid’s face. He didn’t say anything but just mumbled like a toddler.

“Well, my name is Lydia. Can you try and say ‘Lydia’?” She got half of his face somewhat clean when suddenly a loud bang coming from the basement and Barbara screaming. The kid got scared at the sudden noise and grabbed Lydia’s arm. Lydia carried the kid and rushed to the basement.

Barbara had one of Delia’s sculptures in her hands, she was screaming at two Beetlejuice like figures. The taller one is skinny, has a very pale face, lots of moss and mold, light blonde hair, and a suit just like Beej’s. The other one is the same height as Beej, but with darker skin, green hair with deep blue streaks, same suit as Beej, a grey undershirt, and a blue tie. Lydia remembered the tall one from a few months ago, he was the one who made snakes come out of his face to scare the pizza guy.

The tall one suddenly shapeshifted into a huge rattlesnake, with large yellow eyes and long sharp fangs. The kid in Lydia’s arms squirmed around in fear. She put the kid down, and suddenly, the other clone grabbed the kid and floated just high enough where she couldn’t reach. The kid started laughing at Lydia as she tried to jump up and grab the kid back. She turned her attention to the snake when he started to make rattling sounds. Lydia ran in between the snake and Barbara.

“Stop! That’s enough!” Lydia screamed at the snake.

“Lydia what are you doing?!” Barbara panicked _. That’s a good question, what_ am _I doing?_ The snake rose up and prepared to strike.

“Hey! Don’t hurt them!” Beetlejuice’s loud gravelly voice echoed through the basement. He rushed down the stairs and pushed Lydia behind him.

“Boss!” The floating clone and the kid yelped with excitement, floating to the ground safely. Beetlejuice didn’t unlock his eyes from the snake’s. Beetlejuice lowered his pointed ears, and his hair started to get red streaks. _He is NOT backing down! They really do belong to him._ The snake shapeshifted back to normal form and angrily mumbled at Beetlejuice.

“Don’t talk back to me, I didn’t order you to take over the place Number Three.” Beej gripped back. “Number Two and Number Six,” now turning his attention to the other two clones in the basement “I hope _you_ two didn’t make a single mess in this house, or your-” the kid came running up to Beej and hugged his legs. Beetlejuice stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the kid, and sighed. He pulled a dad move and ruffled the kid’s already messy hair with the palm of his hand.

“I’m sorry about that Babs, there was a big misunderstanding, I-”

“Misunderstanding?! Beetlejuice, we were almost eaten by a giant snake! Who are they? Why are they in our house?!” Barbara yelled angrily at Beej stomping over towards him. The kid that was still at his feet started whining and he ran to the clone with blue streaks, he picked the kid up and confronted him.

“Number Six doesn’t like it when you yell at him,” Beej added, avoiding Barbara’s questions.

“Are you serious right now? You're unbelievable.” Barbara gripped.

“Barbara, honey, can you come out here please?” Adam asked loud enough to hear from outside. His voice sounded like he needed help; everyone rushed to the backyard. Adam was running around the place yelling at three more striped figures.

“Hey, don’t touch the Peonies!” Adam shouted at a blonde clone in the flowerbed.

“No, no! Not the shed! Get out of the shed!” Adam ran over to the garden shed.

“Don’t just stand there! Tell them to stop--” Adam yelled, out of breath to a short clone.

“Adam, what’s wrong?” Barbara asked.

“The blonde one is getting too close to the flowers, the giant is tearing up the place, and he’s just standing there!” Adam answered running over to his wife, pointing to the short clone.

The blonde clone has white patches, and freckles covering his dark skin. He had on dirty striped overalls and a purple tank top. He was sitting in the dirt in the middle of a patch of peonies, just staring at them with a big smile on his face. _I have never seen skin like his before, it’s unusual but beautiful._ Lydia thought to herself.

The giant clone emerged from the shed, the kid clone saw him and ran to him. The giant clone was probably over 6 feet tall, with a red plaid button-up under a striped suit, a thick dark beard, and wide shoulders. He smiled when he saw the kid, the giant picked up and hugged the kid. _He looks like a lumberjack._ Lydia chuckled to herself. _I don’t remember ever seeing that one before._

The other clone in the backyard almost looked exactly like Beetlejuice. Lydia also remembered this clone from the Juicing. Everything about them looked the same except the clone has a greyish skin tone, thinner hair, thinner beard, and a solid white button-up shirt. _Exactly what we need, more Beetlejuice’s running around._ Lydia said sarcastically to herself.

“Number One, Number 4, and Number 7! Come over here, please. The rest of you, stand in a single file line.” Beetlejuice ordered. All 6 of the clones did what they were told. The Beetlejuice copy clone gripped something at the rest of the clones and they rearranged the order.

“Good job Number One with reminding the rest to be in number order,” Beetlejuice whispered to the copy clone as he walked by in front of him.

“I am _not_ happy with some of you right now. I don’t know why you all decided to show up, but I sure didn’t call ya today.” Beetlejuice started to get controllably mad. Suddenly two more clones popped up in line. “Number 8 and Number 9, thank you for finally joining the others. Anyways, I will have a long conversation with some of ya tonight. And by the looks of it, we’re still missing one more.” _Wait! There’s NINE of them?!_

Number 8 looked to be almost 6 feet tall with dark skin, a black beret hat, blue button-up undershirt, a green bow tie, and a striped suit that was buttoned up. _This one looks like he could be a jazz player._ Number 9 looked a few inches shorter than Lydia. He has pale skin, blonde and maroon hair, a maroon Hawaiian looking button-up shirt with a green bone pattern, red fingertips, and a striped suit. _This one reminds me of a surfer dude._ Lydia laughed to herself.

Lydia’s thoughts were suddenly broken by the sounds of two very familiar screams coming from the house. She whipped around to face the house. Beetlejuice walked up and stood next to Lydia.

“Annnnd I looks like we found Number 5. And by the sound of it, he found your parents babes.” Beetlejuice mocked, elbowing Lydia.

“Which one is Number 5?” Lydia asked, gritting her teeth in frustration. Right on cue, the smoke detectors went off inside the house. Lydia dropped her head and let out a loud groan.

“Fire!” Adam screamed in a high pitch. He ran in the laundry room, grabbed the fire extinguisher and let it rip. Barbara ran after her husband. The clones gathered around Beetlejuice and Lydia. She could hear some of them chuckle and giggle amongst themselves.

“Beetlejuice,” Lydia said coldly.

“Yes, babes.” He added cheerfully.

“I want to push you off the roof right now.” Lydia stared at him angrily. He laughed, then Lydia turned towards him and punched him in the arm. He stopped laughing immediately and rubbed his arm.

*******

_I bet I know exactly what Number 5 is doing, he’s probably giving Lyd’s parents a magic show._ Beetlejuice thought to himself as he started walking back in the house with Lydia and the rest of the clones. When they got to the living room, all hell broke loose.

Number 5 was wearing his brightly colored red vest, striped undershirt and suit, a shiny orange tie, striped pants, and a white and grey striped cape with a pattern of large beetles. Today, the clone’s hair had a fire look to it and was slicked back. _Number 5 looks classy as always._

Beetlejuice smiled at the sight of what his clone was doing. Charles and Delia were tied up with rope, hanging from the chandelier in the living room. The tall ceiling gave the clone the perfect space to do his show, he noticed Beetlejuice and the others watching him, the clone snapped his fingers and made 3 running chainsaws appear. That made everyone but Beej and the clones panic. Adam and Barbara were too busy putting out the small isolated fires that were scattered across the kitchen and living room. Number 5 did a great job at juggling the chainsaws, some almost touched Deetez' shoes.

“Beetlejuice! Stop this right now! Or I swear, I will-” Lydia threatened, facing Beetlejuice and gripping his tie.

“You’ll what babes? Punch me in the arm again?” Beetlejuice interrupted with an extra cocky tone in his voice. Lydia’s face scrunched up with anger.

 _Cute face,_ Beej taunted to himself. Lydia suddenly pulled on his tie harder towards her, they were now almost touching noses. Beetlejuice has never been _this_ close to Lydia, or her face, ever. He started feeling uncomfortable, his palms began to sweat, and he started feeling warm. _Why the hell am I feeling his way right now?_ What _am I feeling?_ Beej could feel the heat coming off of her face, _she is not happy._ She didn’t need to say anything, the look on her face told Beetlejuice exactly what she was going to say.

“Fine! Geesh, woman!” He playfully yelled at Lydia, smothering her with his big grubby hand. Pushing her face away playfully, he walked up next to Number 5.

“Hey bud, I really like the show, but I’m going to have to ask you to stop now. Please?” The chainsaws vanished, and all the small fires extinguished. The clone looked at his boss with a dramatic pouty face. Beej put his arm around the flashy dressed clone.

“5, I also need you to get those two breathers here on the ground safely. Thank you bud.” Beetlejuice ordered with compassion in his voice.

The clone did what he was told, he flew up to where Lydia’s parents were, united them and brought them to the ground safely. Lydia ran over to her father and step-mom, they were fine, just shaken up. Charles stomped over to Beetlejuice and grabbed the fold of his suit, his forehead vein popped up instantly.

“Beetlejuice, what in the ever-loving hell is going on here?! Who are all these freaks, and why are they in _my_ house, destroying _my_ house, and terrorizing the shit out of _my_ wife?!” Charles exploded with anger, putting infuses on ‘my’. Before Beetlejuice could answer, the Maitlands joined the group.

“Excuse me Mr. Deetz, but this is _our_ house. Remember, we share it.” Barbara said harshly.

“Well Chuck, I have no earthly clue why my clones are here. I guess they got lonely in the Netherworld and decided to drop by and visit.” _And that’s the truth._ Beetlejuice thought to himself. He literally had no idea why the clones came back.

“Well get them out of here!” Charles started at a regular toned voice, then it began to rise with anger.

“Dad. Let’s just talk about this.” Lydia butted in between Beej and her father. She pushed them away from each other. _So this is how it’s gonna be, kid? You get mad at me for what the clones do, then you defend me? That’s true friendship right there._ Beetlejuice thought to himself.

“Lydia, did you not just see what that crazy thing tried to do to me and your mother?” Charles yelled, pointing at Number 5.

“I’m going to ignore that last part. We just got off on the wrong foot with them. I know that they would never kill, just scare-.” Lydia said.

“Don’t say that word babes,” Beetlejuice added quickly.

“What, ‘scare’?” Lydia said it was already too late. All the clones started getting excited and chanting the word.

“Scare?” A few of the clones asked Beej, pointing at all the adults in the room.

“No,” Beetlejuice answered.

“Aww,” All the clones dropped their heads sadly.

“Lydia is right, they would never kill anyone unless I gave them an order to do so. So Charles, can they visit every once and awhile? I like having them around.” Beej then whispered to Charles, “don’t tell them, but, I like them. They’re like my kids.”

Charles didn’t speak for a few minutes, he kept looking at everyone in the room, then back at Beej.

“They can stay, BUT, they have to follow some rules. If they don’t follow those rules, all of them have to leave, even you, Beetlejuice.” Charles said sternly.

“Dad, no-” Lydia started then Beej raised his hand and silenced her.

“Deal,” Beetlejuice said seriously.

*******

“You screwed up big time Beej,” Lydia said annoyed.

Lydia, Beetlejuice and all 9 of the clones sat in the living room that night. Charles put Lydia and Beetlejuice on babysitting duty until they worked a deal with the clones. The Clones were watching Jimmy Fallon on TV, while Beej and Lyds talked.

“They always listen to me, I’m not going anywhere Lydia,” Beej reassured her. Lydia just sighed. Number Six jumped off of the Lumberjack Clone’s shoulders and walked over to where Lyds and Beej were on the couch. He tried so hard to say a word that started with an h, but all he said over and over was ‘hu’.

“Are you hungry?” Lydia asked. The kid knotted his head in embarrassment.

“Kid, why the long face?” Beetlejuice asked. The clone didn’t look him in the eyes, he just stared at the floor. “Hey, don’t ever be ashamed or embarrassed to ask for food. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Lydia wondered what Beetlejuice meant by that. He’s never embarrassed to ask her to fix his food. So why does the kid act like he’s going to be yelled at for being hungry?

“Come with me, I’ll find ya something to eat,” Lydia said gently, picking the kid up and walking into the kitchen.

“Beetlejuice, what kind of food does he like?” Lydia asked over her shoulder, setting the clone on the kitchen island.

“Literally anything. If you give the kid a rock, he will eat it. But don’t let him eat rocks or anything with feathers, it gives him constipation.” Beetlejuice answered, still in the living room.

 _Great to know, that didn’t help much._ Lydia said to herself as she looked through the fridge, she pulled out what she could grab and set them in front of the clone.

“Pick something out.” Lydia smiled.

The clone picked up the bottle of vinegar and took a giant swig of it, his face scrunched up and threw the bottle towards the laundry room. _Vinegar is a no-no._ Next, he squirted mayonnaise into his mouth. He didn’t really care for mayo right now, he tossed the bottle on the floor. Then he grabbed a jar of grape jam, he took one bite, and his (already) large eyes dilated even more. He scooped out jam with his baby hands and shoved them in his mouth. _Jam is our favorite so far._

“You love jam?” Lydia asked. The clone held the empty jar up and smiled. “You want more?”

“Mo, mo, mo.” the kid muttered excitedly. Lydia grabbed an unopened jar from the pantry, popped the lid, and gave it to him. Beetlejuice floated into the kitchen.

“Find somethin’ good kid?” Beetlejuice asked, half impressed. The clone pointed at the jar. “Jam, hm”.

“Beej, how come they don’t have real names?” Lydia asked out of the blue.

“Uhhh, I don’t know lyds.” Beej stuttered.

“I want to give them all names, and we can teach them how to say their name and their brother’s names.”

“I can’t see why not. Go ahead, I’ll put you in charge of that.” Beej agreed. _That went better than I expected._

“I want to call him Jam,” Lydia said, referring to the kid.

“Ok” Beej shrugged.

As the night went on, Lydia thought of names for all the clones, and Beetlejuice told her all he knows about them. Lydia wrote all the name ideas down on some paper and read off the final selection to Beej.

“Let’s go in order. Clone Number One is going to be called Beta since he is your almost exact copy. Number Two, Jay, because his blue streaks look like a bluejay. Number Three is Lane, cause the name means ‘small path’; and he is like a bean pole. Number Four is Bear, cause he looks like a Lumberjack to me and he’s like a mama bear towards Jam. Number Five, Leo, named after the constellation; and also Leo’s love attention. So I thought that fit him well. Number Six, Jam, because he has some kind of food stain on him. Number Seven is Pollux because from what you said, he loves dirt and every kind of flower there is; there is also a star called by the same name. Number Eight is Jovi, cause he looks like a jazz player and he’s joyful all the time. And finally, Number Nine is Ben, cause I couldn’t think of any other cool names. What do ya think?” Lydia read from the list. Beetlejuice and the clones loved all of their new names.

Lydia went to the attic to say goodnight to the Maitlands. When she walked through the attic door, in the corner of the attic, she saw a pair of dark eyes staring back at her. The Maitlands rushed over to Lydia.

“I think it’s another clone, but it won’t come out,” Adam explained to Lydia. Lydia slowly walked over to the piles of her ghost parent’s stuff where the clone was hiding. The clone had an unusual mix of bluish-white skin on a very shriveled long body, faded green hair with blue tips, a striped suit, and a faded blue turtleneck under the jacket.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” Lydia said gently. Slowly, the clone stood up and came out from the boxes. The clone looked about 6’4. “I’m Lydia.” She said taking the clone’s deadly ice-cold hand and lead him to the living room where the rest of the clones were.

“Beej, I think you forgot one,” Lydia said matter-of-factly. Beetlejuice looked up and made a straight face.

“Oh, ya. Um looks like it did.” Beetlejuice said under his breath.

“How could you forget you were missing one?” Lydia asked harshly.

“Sorry Lyds, he’s new. I don’t know much about him.” Beetlejuice defended. They noticed that the new clone was now over by the window, looking out the window. Lydia also noticed the new clone was shivering.

“Is he always cold?” Lydia asked. Beej noted his head.

The clone gently made his way towards the door, carefully opened and closed the front door. Lydia and Beetlejuice went over to the front door and watched the clone stiffly walk to the front yard and looked up at the night sky. Suddenly, the clone collapsed to his knees. Beetlejuice ran over to him and caught him. He led the clone back inside the house and sat him down on a spot on the couch.

“He’s stiffening up again, someone get me a blanket and a hat,” Beetlejuice ordered.

Lydia rushed upstairs to her room and looked through her closet, looking for anything warm. When Lydia came back downstairs, Beetlejuice was wrapping a thick blanket around the thin clone. Lydia handed him a black beanie, Beej carefully put the beanie on the clone’s head.

“What happened? Will he be ok?” Lydia asked Beetlejuice as he stood up.

“Ya, he’ll be fine. We found out that he will literally freeze if he gets too cold. So we have to find a way to keep him warm all the time.” Beetlejuice answered.

Two days after the clones randomly showed up, Lydia picked out a name for the final clone.

“I’m going to name him Rigel, after the star in the Orion constellation. His skin kinda looks like the star too.” Lydia said to Beetlejuice, showing him a picture of what the star looks like.

“I really like that name Lyds,”

**_(bonus)_ **

“Beej, what does Jam have?” Barbara asked Beetlejuice.

“A knife.” He answered.

“No!” Barbara ran towards Jam, took the knife from him, and turned towards Beetlejuice with the knife still in her hands.

“Run.” Barbara darkly moaned. _Oh shit!_ Beetlejuice yelled in this head.


	3. The Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new student comes to Lydia's school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: R*PE (mentions of it, no actual deep details about it.)

Lydia sat outside of the principal’s office. She stared at the floor as she waited nervously for the principal to call Lydia in her office. Finally, Lydia’s name was called by Miss. Shannon. Lydia stood up and sat in a comfy leather chair in the small Victorian-style office.

“Miss Deetz, do you know why you were called in here today?” Miss. Shannon asked in her classy, high pitched voice.

“No. Mrs. Johnston wouldn’t tell me what I did that was so bad.” Lydia lied annoyed, crossing her arms. She knew exactly why she was in trouble. Beetlejuice showed up in the middle of the history lecture and made fun of the teacher, causing Lydia to laugh so hard until she snorted. Then he floated right over her head and annoyed her, making her whisper to him to quit.

“She claims that you were being very disruptive in her class, laughing and talking during the whole lecture. That’s not like you Lydia.” Miss. Shannon read from a note from Lydia’s history teacher. Suddenly, Beetlejuice _poofed_ , sitting on top of the principal’s desk.

“Got caught babes?” He asked cockily. Lydia rolled his eyes at him.

“Why are you rolling your eyes, Miss Deetz?” Miss. Shannon’s now annoyed voice brought Lydia back to their conversation.

“No, no, I… um. I wasn’t rolling my eyes at you. I…. um….. was at someone else.” Lydia answered glaring at Beetlejuice, who then floated off the desk and stood next to Lydia’s chair.

“Great answer Lyds,” Beetlejuice said sarcastically.

“Shut up,” Lydia whispered under her breath.

“Excuse me, did you say something, Miss Deetz?” Miss. Shannon asked.

“No ma’am, I didn’t say anything.” Lydia lowered her head.

“Well, you’re free to go, this is your first warning after all. Just don’t do it again please.” The principal said, gesturing with her open hand towards the door.

Lydia sighed, stood up, and left the office. When she walked out of the office she noticed an unfamiliar face locking eyes with her.

“Lydia, glad I caught you. Could you do me a favor? This is our new student, Hogan Welch, and I was wondering if you care to show him around campus and show him to your Chemistry glass when it starts?” The front desk lady asked Lydia.

“Sure thing Mrs. Lowe, I don’t mind,” Lydia answered, walking over to where the new student stood.

Together they walked out of the office and started down the hallway. Off in the distance, she could hear Beetlejuice’s voice calling her name, but she ignored him. The student looked back for a second as if he heard the ghost. Something about this new guy made Lydia start to get butterflies in her stomach. _Do I think he’s cute?_ Lydia asked herself. She glanced over to the new guy. His long teal-colored hair was tied back, his face was almost a perfect shape, he wasn’t wearing an outfit; but a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and a plain navy v neck. And his eyes- _oh his eyes!_ Lydia felt sucked into his brown eyes, he made eye contact with Lydia. _Crap! I’m staring!_ Lydia quickly looked down. But there was something odd about this guy, not because he’s new, something almost spiritual. She couldn’t figure it out.

“Nice campus you have. Way better than Hot Springs High. I apologize that I didn’t get the memo that this is a uniform-wearing school.” He said kinda kooky. His voice sounded like he was a jockey or something, and Lydia kinda liked it.

“It’s pretty nice I guess. Um…. what’s your name?” Lydia said nervously.

“Hogan, Hogan Welch. Oh, does this school have a football team?” Hogan said, now with more cockiness. _He didn’t even ask what my name is. Oh well, as if he will ever talk to me anyways. He probably will hang out with the popular kids, which includes everybody but me._

“Yes we do, but it sucks. Like every other sport and club here.” Lydia answered monotony. _Why the change in mood babes?_ A voice asked her. _Beej?_ Lydia asked in her head, half expecting an answer. There was no answer. After Lydia showed Hogan where everything was on campus, it was time for 4th period; chemistry. Lydia told the teacher that Hogan was a new student, he told Lydia that Hogan is her lab partner now. She started to feel sick to her stomach with nervousness. At lab time, the two started talking.

“So, you don’t wear outfits on Fridays?” Hogan asked.

“It’s optional, but no, I never do. Friday’s is my only day in the week I can show people how strange and unusual I really am.” Lydia answered writing numbers down in her notebook.

“That’s so bad A,” Hogan whispered excitedly. “I’m sorry, but I never asked what your name is.”

“Oh, it’s ok. I’m Lydia Deetz.” She answered. _Finally, after almost an hour, he asks my name. Jerk, but a cute one._

“Lydia, meaning kind spirit; and Deetz is of North German origin I believe,” Hogan said smoothly, staring gently into Lydia’s deep blue eyes. She quickly turned her face away to hide her smile, also the fact that she’s blushing hard. _Crap! I’m falling hard for him. This guy is impressive, he caught me off guard._

Lydia was starting to like him more and more, his charm and kindness took over her. He’s nice, non-judgemental, and understands Lydia, and her love for vinyl record collecting. They sat together at lunch and talked some more. Beetlejuice showed up in the middle of the cafeteria, stole someone’s juice box, and floated behind Lydia.

“The blue-haired looser is in my spot,” Beetlejuice whispered harshly behind her, resting his elbow on top of her head.

“Not now Beej.” She whispered back, gritting her teeth.

“What Lyds, it’s not like he can see me or anything,” Beej said at his normal level.

“Do I need to come back later?” Hogan asked randomly. _Does he see Beej?_

“No, I was just talking to myself.” Lydia lied.

“Fine babes, I see how it is now.” Beetlejuice huffed, then _poofed_ away.

“Oh, I thought you were on the phone with someone. I’ll see you around Lydia.” Hogan chuckled, standing up and walking towards a big group of popular kids. _That was awkward, for a second I thought I wasn’t the only one that can see ghosts. Oh well, at least I have Beetlejuice to bug me._

*******

Over the next three weeks, Lydia and Hogan become close friends. Beetlejuice knew, the second he saw the stargazed look on his ‘sisters’ eyes, he was finished. Beetlejuice stayed in the guest bedroom while Lydia was at school. He claimed the guest room as his own, he totally re-arranged the room up. He repainted all the furniture to match his taste, repainted the walls, moved out the bed frame, and hung up two of Charles’ old t-shirts and pants. All that was left was poorly painted dark grey walls with some purple streaks peeking through, a plain mattress in the corner, and a small random framed picture of Humpty Dumpty on a wall. The Maitlands practically (and literally) threw the picture at Beetlejuice and told him he could have it.

Normally the ghost would be in Lydia’s room or watching the Maitlands do work around the shared house. Now he just sits on his mattress, all alone, listening to Lydia’s classic rock records. Somedays he borrows her record player and puts it in his room. Now he doesn’t even hear the music or the words, he just listens to his annoyed and angry thoughts. _That new kid! I hate him, god/satin I hate him. And Lydia, she betrayed me. Hopefin or whatever the hell his name is, took our friendship. That, that….that. Now I can’t even come up with a horrible, terrible, bad name to call that loser. Now I think about it, I don’t think there is a word bad enough to describe him. I want to tell Lydia what I think of him, but I don’t want to damage our friendship more than it already is. What do I do?_

“Beej! I’m home.” Lydia’s familiar voice ran through the house. Beetlejuice rushed out of his room and down the stairs to greet her.

“‘Bout time babes.” He chuckled.

“Sorry I’m late, I was talking to Hogan after school, I’m going to meet him and some other classmates at the library; so I can help them study for their Finals,” Lydia said, putting her backpack down by the door. Beej remembered that she didn’t have to take any final tests because she has practically all A’s in her classes.

“It’s kinda lame that you want to help other people study.” Beetlejuice joked. Lydia chuckled and went upstairs to change out of her uniform.

Beetlejuice nervously walked up the stairs a few minutes after she closed her door. He stood at her door, feeling like he was going to be sick or have another anxiety attack. He knocked on her door casually.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” Lydia called from behind the door.

“It’s just me. Lydia, I need to talk to you.” Beetlejuice said brittly, putting his forehead against her door.

“Is something wrong?” Lydia asked opening the door and finished putting a jacket on. She now wears a long short sleeve black dress, with half of her hair pulled back and a grey jacket. Beetlejuice sadly walked past her and stood near the window.

“Yes, something is wrong Lydia. Something about Hogan is fishy.” Beej said harshly. His energy level suddenly shot up, pure adrenalin flash flooded his whole body. Now that he started saying all that he has wanted to say for weeks, there was no going back now.

“You’re being silly.” Lydia smiled.

“This is not a joke Lydia.” Beej grabbed her arms. “I’m being serious. He…. I think he can see me and is just ignoring me.”

“Why are you being like this Beej? Why are you acting weird?” Lydia asked, studying him up and down.

“Because I don’t trust him!” Beetlejuice started to raise his voice with more adrenalin.

“Hogan is a good guy-”

“Lydia listen to me! Something is not normal about this guy. I don’t think he’s human. I think he’s a demon. A demon trying to manipulate you for some reason.” Beetlejuice interrupted.

“You lost your god-damn mind!” Lydia’s now starting to raise her voice too. She pulled herself out of Beetlejuice’s grip on her arms.

“ _I’ve_ lost _my_ mind? No Lydia, you're the one who’s lost their mind! Are you full of hormones or something?!” Beetlejuice yelled, pointed at Lydia.

“What do hormones have to do with anything?” Lydia said monotony and with a straight face.

“Everything, trust me. And you’re not going to see him anymore, I forbid it.” Beetlejuice lowered his voice to make the last part sound more serious and gravely.

“What? Why not?”

“Why not, I’ll tell you why not, because I don’t trust him!” Beetlejuice’s face started to get flushed with anger.

“You already said that dumbass!” Lydia screamed.

“The only dumbass around here is you!” Beetlejuice’s hair suddenly erupted into a deep shade of red.

“Excuse me?” Lydia said in a toneless voice.

“You heard me. You don’t think before you jump into the deep end. You are blinding yourself to all these red flags that keep popping up!” Beetlejuice lowered his ears and started pacing the floor with a nervous twitch.

“You useless retarded dumbass!” Lydia insulted.

“I’m trying to save you from something that could happen!” Beej’s hair suddenly turned yellow.

“You know nothing about Hogan. You know nothing about me. I don’t need you to save me. You don’t know what I need or what’s best for me. You're not my parents.” Lydia poked her finger into his chest, her voice dropping more deeply. Beetlejuice felt like the breath was knocked out of him. He could feel his hair turn purple, then suddenly, he burst an insult back.

“Well….. you know what……. I’m glad your mom is dead!” Beetlejuice took a step back in shock. _Did I say that?! Why the hell would you say that, you idiot!_

The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted, the air felt thick with hurt and raw emotions. Beetlejuice could feel it, he started getting nervous, lightheaded, and sweaty. _Lyds is going to freaking destroy me._ After a few heartbeats (if his heart was beating), Lydia said something under her breath; he couldn’t really hear what she said.

“that didn’t come out right…,” Beetlejuice whispered, trying not to look Lydia in the eyes.

“Screw you! I’m going, and if he hurts me so be it. I don’t need you, I have never needed you. If he hurts me I don’t care. I don’t even care if he kills me! Why did you even bother coming back in the first place?” Lydia screamed at the top of her lungs. Beetlejuice lowered his head, looking up at Lydia. _She sounds like mom now. Mom was right._

“If, and when, he hurts you, don’t you dare come crawling back to me. If he does kill you, good, one less thing I have to worry about. Mom was right about you. And you're right, I should have never have come back! Who would want to be friends with a loser like you?!” Beetlejuice screamed back at her as loud as he could scream.

Lydia shoved him as hard as she could, Beetlejuice didn’t see it coming and fell down hard. She then ran out of her room, down the stairs, grabbed her backpack, and slammed the door shut. Suddenly all thoughts and feelings shut off, he stood up and looked at a mirror in Lydia’s room. His hair was black! After she left, Beetlejuice felt something cold and wet in his hands, he looked at them. His fists were tightly clenched, his sharp fingernails stabbed the palms of his hands, causing black blood to ooze out onto the dark hardwood floor. He just wiped the black blood off on his suit jacket and walked through the wall into his room and punched a huge hole in the wall. _That little piece of shit._

*******

Lydia rode her bike to the library, and instantly went in and locked herself in a bathroom stall. She wanted to cry, but she was too mad right now to make tears. _Loser? I’m a loser now?_ Lydia thought to herself, recalling every heart stabbing word her best friend said. She was over an hour early for the study group, so she cried for about 20 minutes, then the rest of the time she collected her thoughts and calmed down. She walked out of the bathroom, sat on the staircase and pulled out a book, and read until some of her classmates came.

“Hey babes.” _Beej?_ She thought for a second it was her ‘brother’, but she looked up from her book, it was Hogan. He also changed out of his uniform into a jean jacket, dark jeans, and a plain white t-shirt.

“Hey, Hogan.” Lydia greeted, placing her book back in her backpack. “Have you heard from the others?”

“Denna said that she wanted to study on her own, Michell’s grounded, Piper had a softball game tonight. So it’s just going to be us babes.” Hogan said.

_Babes? No one calls me that but Beej. It’s just going to be me and Hogan, should I cancel too? Do I need to be by myself with Hogna after my fight with Beej? I guess I could help him go over the test once or twice, it shouldn’t take too long._

“That’s fine, maybe that will cut down on time. We can go over the study guide once or twice, it won’t take long.” Lydia said standing up.

“Sure, sounds good to me.” Hogan smiled.

They sat at a small table on the second floor and went over the study guide. It felt like helping him study was dragging on forever. It took forever for him to think of the answer, and he got most of them wrong. _No wonder he has to take the final._ Lydia said to herself, annoyed. It was almost 7:30 pm when Lydia checked her phone. Her dad texted and asked how things were going while they were gone. Charles and Delia were on a business trip, and have been gone the whole week. Today is Thursday, and they’re supposed to get back home Friday afternoon. Lydia looked around the library, there were a few older people still around on the first floor. She realized that she didn’t get to eat dinner, her stomach rumbled.

“I’m going to the vending machine right quick, need anything?” Lydia asked.

“No thank you,” Hogan answered.

Lydia went downstairs, got a bag of chips, and returned to their spot. She helped Hogan study for ten more minutes while she ate her chips. When she finished, the mood around her suddenly went cold, dark, and evil. Hogan’s body language and mood changed the same. _Something’s wrong, get out!_ Lydia’s sixth sense franticly told her. Lydia started getting scared, her palms started to sweat, and she did not like the energy she felt around her. Out of nowhere, Hogan’s voice changed to a scary, gruffly voice.

“Hey, Lydia. I’ve been waiting for this for weeks.” Hogan said breathily.

“Hogan. What is going on?” Lydia’s voice wobbled.

“Don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you, that bad.”

Hogan’s whole body suddenly started to contort and change. He grew an inch taller and wider, his teenager face melted away into the face of an older man. His once brown eyes turned deep black holes in his head, his fingertips turned black, long and pointed, and his skin turned ghostly pale. Then his long teal hair changed to a deep maroon color, and two small horns popped out on the sides of his forehead. Even his clothes changed, now he has on solid black, old, withering rags. Lydia fell to the carpet floor and scooted away from him. _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_

“Are… are you…..a...a...d...demon?” Lydia stuttered.

“Ain't it obvious babes,” Hogan answered cockily.

“Don’t call me that! One person, only one, is allowed to call me that.” Lydia said, forcing her voice to sound brave.

_Beetlejuice! I can summon him and he’ll kick Hogan’s ass._ Then Lydia remembered the fight they had earlier that day. _What if he doesn’t come? Then I really am dead meat! Oh well, it’s worth a shot._ Lydia scooted backward until her back hit a bookshelf. Suddenly Hogan launched at her.

“Beetle-” Lydia yelped.

Hogan aggressively picked Lydia up by the waist and threw her down hard on a nearby table. Pain instantly rose all up and down her back. She turned her head to move her hair out of her face so she could see Hogan more clearly. He climbed on top of the table and held her arms down tightly.

“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Bee-” Lydia was interrupted again. Hogan out of nowhere grew an extra arm and placed his deathly cold icy hands over Lydia’s mouth. His sharp black fingers dug deep in her cheeks.

“Don’t you even dare think about summoning Lawrence!” Hogan spat angrily.

_How does he know Beej’s real name?_ Lydia screamed to herself.

_Because I know him._ Hogan’s voice echoed in her head.

“I know all about Lawrence. And Barbara, Adam, your daddy and stepmom, and that your real mom, Emily, is dead now.” Hogan whispered slowly.

_What the hell man!_

“Now I am going to take my hand off your mouth. If you say his name or even think about saying it, I will kill the Maitlands, then your parents, Lawrence, then you. Now you may say the Maitlands and Beej are already dead, how can I kill them? Good question babes, I have a special knife with me that’s straight from the Netherworld that can kill ghosts and demons for good.”

“Don’t you dare hurt him!” Lydia tried to shout, but Hogan’s hand made it all muffled. She started to fight back.

“I can, and I will. Now stop squirming or I’m going to slit your throat!” Hogan yelled, hardening his grip on her. That made Lydia stop moving completely. Her breathing started to become rapid when the lights started to dim dramatically. In the dark, she could still see a faint silhouette of the demon.

Hogan then took his hand off her mouth, grabbed her legs, and scooted her closer to him. He then grabbed the bottom of her dress. _I know where this is going!_ Lydia started freaking out, she tried to push him off her with all her strength. In a flash, he whipped out a large, thick, glowing, curved knife. _He wasn’t lying about the knife._ She then turned her head away from him.

“Finally. Took you long enough to submit to me.” Hogan laughed evilly, as he got on top of her.

*******

Beetlejuice busted open wide the attic door, causing the Maitlands to jump.

“Beej! You almost made me drop this very important piece to my town model.” Adam said angrily, pushing up his glasses.

Beetlejuice didn’t say anything, he just stood in the doorway, his hair almost looking like actual fire.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Barbara asked kindly.

“Lydia is such a-.” Beej interrupted himself, angrily stomping his way in the attic.

“What happened? Did you hurt her?” Adam asked seriously.

“Wha-, no! No, I would never hurt her.” Beetlejuice’s voice trembled for a moment.

“Physically, no. But with words, most likely.” Adam said, walking over to his wife.

“We had a fight,” Beej said, looking at the floor in shame. He could feel his warm hair start to cool down and turn blue. He closed his eyes, and kneeled, running his fingers through his blue hair. Beetlejuice felt a quick tear come out of his eye and ran down his face. He wiped it away before standing back up.

“Is that why she didn’t eat dinner?” Barbara asked. The demon knotted his head.

“She went to a study group with a couple of her chemistry classmates,” Beetlejuice said.

“Then why did you two have a fight?” Barbara asked, this time more sternly.

“The new kid is her best friend now, and he smells fishy. There’s something about him that I don’t trust or like.” Beej answered pacing the floor, his blue hair turned back to its normal green but with some orange streaks.

“Sounds like you're jealous.” Adam blurted.

“Me? Ha! Me, jealous! You think you’re so funny Adam!” Beetlejuice scoffed.

Beetlejuice walked over to the attic window and stared at the tiny town. He noticed that Lydia’s bike was in the front yard, on its side. _She’s back._ A few seconds later, the attic door swung open. Beej did not turn around.

“Look Lyds, if you're just here to fight with me more, don’t waste your breath. I didn’t mean what I said about your dead mom, kid.” Beetlejuice huffed, with his back still facing everyone.

After a few seconds of silence, the Maitlands gasped, causing Beetlejuice to turn his head. What he saw before him made his chest instantly twist with shock, pain, and horror.

Her jacket was torn to shreds, less than half of the jacket was twisted around her arms, her dress was ripped in a few different places from the bottom up to her thighs, there’s now a big tear on the right sleeve, causing her black bra strap to show a bit. Her face now had a fresh black eye, small fingernail looking cuts practically all over her body, her wrists had fresh bruises painted on her pale skin. Her face was flushed from crying hard, her eyes now bloodshot, and her black short hair was a mess.

“Lydia,” Beetlejuice whispered long.

Suddenly she ran past the Maitlands and threw herself at Beetlejuice, almost knocking him over. She tightly wrapped her arms around his waist, shoved her whole face into his soft belly, and she started to loudly cry. Beetlejuice just held his arms out, not knowing what to do at first. Once he realized she didn’t want to beat him up or yell at him, he gently put his arms around her. Out of nowhere, a foul stench rose off Lydia’s abused body. It smelt worse than him, it smelt like another demon. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.

“Lydia. What happened?” Beej’s voice wobbled with anxiety, instantly expecting the worst.

“Beetlejuice! I’m so sorry! You were right all along. I didn’t mean any of those mean things I said. You were right about him. You were right about Hogan. I’m sorry Beej! Hogan is not a human, he’s a literal demon like you. He shifted into a demon. He knows you, he knows your real name, he knows all about us. He knows about Delia, Dad, Barbara, and Adam. He has a glowing knife that can kill ghosts and demons for good. He said if I tell anyone about this that he will kill mom and dad, then Barbara and Adam, then you, then he will make me watch; then he will kill me last. I never told him anything about any of you, I swear. This is all my fault!” Lydia rambled quickly while still sobbing.

“What did he-”

“Hogan raped me!” Lydia interrupted, tightening her grip on him.

Beetlejuice didn’t say anything, he just stared at the floor. _I’m going to kill him!_ He could feel his hair start to get warm again and turn red again. With her still balling her eyes out, he stopped touching her. He reached behind him, undid her hands, and gently pushed her arms away from him. He quickly walked towards the door before his hair could set off the smoke detectors. He could hear Lydia’s raw screaming and pleading behind him grow louder the further he walked away.

“Beetlejuice, wha-. Don’t leave me, please. I’m sorry! Come back! Beetlejuice come back! Don’t leave me!”

Beej ran down the two flights of stairs, into the kitchen, and leaned against the sink, gripping his long fingernails into the ledge. _I’m going to kill him! Kill, kill, kill._ Those words played on repeat in his head. He gripped the sink ledge so hard that his nails started to crack and break. He barely felt the pain, he was starting to sweat the more he let his anger take control. He grunted loudly and grabbed a ceramic plate that was in the sink and with all his strength threw it on the floor near his feet. Beetlejuice looked up to see Adam running down the stairs and to where he was.

“Beetlejuice, you have to calm down.” Adam pleated, putting his hands out. Suddenly, the smoke detector’s loud siren went off.

“Calm down? Calm down?! Adam doesn’t _ever_ tell me to calm down! Because I’m going to do the very opposite of that!” Beetlejuice screamed, floating up to the wall and ripped the device out of the wall, the siren’s stopped instantly.

“Why are you so worked up?” Adam asked softly.

“BECAUSE IT’S ALL MY FAULT! I SHOULD HAVE WENT WITH HER! OR SHOULD HAVE STOPPED HER FROM GOING. IT’S ALL MY FAULT WHAT HAPPENED TO HER. THIS IS ALL MY FAULT. THIS NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED. NOBODY HURTS MY LITTLE SISTER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT. NOBODY! I COULD HAVE STOPPED IT, BUT I LET MY DAMN EMOTIONS GET IN THE WAY. HOW DOES HE KNOW ME? HOW THE HELL DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THIS FAMILY? HOW DID HE GET RUBY’S BLADE? HOW-” Beetlejuice’s voice sounded raucous, his throat felt raw and shredded from screaming so loud. Adam slowly took two steps toward him. Beetlejuice lowered his voice and finished his sentence.

“How can somebody hurt my Lyds like that?” He looked up at Adam, Beej’s eyes full of sorrow and raw emotion.

“She has his disgusting scent all over her now,” Beetlejuice added.

Adam slowly put his hand on Beetlejuice’s shoulder and said nothing for a few minutes. The silence swallowed up the house, the two could faintly hear Lydia still screaming all the way up in the attic.

“None of us could have seen it coming. This is not Lydia’s fault, or yours. It is only that guy’s fault.” Adam said gently and softly.

“It _is_ my fault-”

“No, it’s not. Trust me. I can’t imagine what you're feeling right now. I know you will get revenge. Eventually, it will be ok, but she needs you now. So please, go back up to the attic and be there for her.” Adam grabbed Beej’s chubby hand.

“No, I don’t want her to see me like this. All mad, and emotional and worked up. She doesn’t need to see this ugly side of me. I just need to bottle it all up. No, I need to find out who this prick is, _right now_.” Beetlejuice pulled his hand out of Adam’s and started pacing the floor, thinking hard.

“You can’t leave her, not now!” Adam raised his voice.

“Adam! I _have_ to find out who he is. I’m the _only one_ who can, I have to do this to make things right with Lydia. Listen to me Adam, I need you to do some stuff for me. If someone comes to the door, don’t answer it, don’t let anyone in. If something happens while I’m gone, you have to take Lyds and Babs and get the hell away from here. Don’t try to fight him, just run.” Beetlejuice grabbed Adam’s shoulders hard and stared him in the eyes. Adam just stuttered confusingly.

Beetlejuice rushed to the living room, pulled a piece of chalk out of his suit pocket, drew a door on the wall, and knocked three times. Bright, thick green light and smoke broke through the door. Beetlejuice halfway walked in, then turned his head back at Adam.

“I need you to promise me that you will do just as I told you,” Beej said harshly.

“But I-”

“Say it!” Beetlejuice screamed.

“Alright, alright! I promise. Wait, let me or Barbara go with you.” Adam said, rushing towards the door. Suddenly, Beetlejuice quickly turned and shoved Adam backward. Adam fell on the floor, causing his glasses to turn crooked. He struggled to stand back up before the door closed. And just like that, Beetlejuice was gone.

*******

Beetlejuice walked through the glowing spiral hallway until he reached the waiting room front door. He opened the door, everyone in the waiting room was still there from when he was there last. Some people that have been there for a few hundred years recognized him. He walked up the front desk. Miss Argentina was filing paperwork. Beej walked up the counter and rang the small metal belle that’s on the counter. She looked up.

“Lawrence! Long time no see.” She smiled. “What do you want.” She then said with a straight face in her accent.

“Miss A, it’s very important, I need your help-”

“Like the time you got your hand stuck in the water dispenser.” Miss Argentina said looking down at her papers again.

“No, I-”

“Or like the time you got stung by those weird-looking bees and your whole arm swelled up. And you cried because Juno would get mad at you.” She ranted, stapling papers together.

“This is serious! Somebody hurt Lydia!” Beetlejuice raised his voice, slamming his fist on the counter. That made Miss Argentina jump, she then looked at him, and waved her hand to come back.

Beej walked through the door, she walked into a small room, he followed her inside and shut the door.

“Lydia? Who is that?” She asked sitting at a cobweb-covered old computer screen.

“On the day Juno got eaten by a sandworm, she came in with her father. She has short black hair, was wearing a black dress, and probably wanted to find her dead mom.” Beetlejuice explained.

“Oh, yass I remember her, the living girl. What happened to her? Is she recently deceased, does she need paperwork?” Miss Argentina asked.

“No, no, she’s not dead. She was raped by a demon.” Beetlejuice answered, not looking into her eyes.

“Oh no! Da poor girl, I’m sorry. Is she ok?” Miss Argentina stood up.

“She’s really shaken up right now. But anyway, I need a favor.” Beetlejuice explained.

“Of course, anything.”

“I need to search our records and see if we have anything on Lydia’s attacker,” Beetlejuice said.

“Of course, what’s the name?” Miss Argentina sat back down at the computer. Beej stood next to her, putting his hand on top of the desk.

“Hogan Welch.” Beetlejuice gritted his teeth with anger. After a few minutes of typing and loading, his records finally popped up.

“It says here, he’s a special demon, similar to you Lawrence. He’s been here in the Netherworld 5 years before you. His parents’ names and a Netherworld Criminal Record are on here too-” Miss Argentina read from the glitchy screen.

“Amos Shoggoth! What the hell? That’s my dad!” Beetlejuice yelled as he read Hogan’s parents’ names.

*******

Lydia woke up the next morning, early morning sunlight shined through the attic window. She rubbed her heavy eyes and looked around her. Barbara still sat next to Lydia on their bed, reading a cooking book.

“Go back to sleep sweetheart,” Barbara whispered, stroking Lydia’s black hair.

“I can’t. I have to go to school. Today’s my last day. Hogan said that if I tell anyone what happened, he will kill-. I have to pretend like nothing happened.” Lydia explained, getting off of the Maitlands bed.

“Are you sure honey?” Barbara asked, closing her book. Lydia knotted her head.

“It’s your choice, if you choose to go, please be careful.”

“I will Barbara,” she promised. “And I just wanted to thank you for being there for me last night. I really appreciate it.” Lydia added. Barbara walked over to Lydia and gave her a hug. Lydia didn’t realize until now how strong Barbara is, she once saw her pin Beej to the ground in the middle of a scrabble game.

Lydia stood in front of her closet, rattling her brain figuring out what she can wear for casual Friday that is thin and can cover up the bruises on her wrists. She gave up and closed her closet doors. Lydia walked in Beetlejuice’s room and opened his small closet door. He didn’t own a bunch of clothes, just some of Charles’ old shirts, basketball shorts, and a thin long-sleeve _Panic! At the Disco_ shirt. Lydia grabbed the long sleeve shirt and went back to her room and changed from her torn dress into Beej’s shirt and a pair of black jeans. His shirt was huge on her, the sleeves went all the way down to her fingertips. _Perfect. Now to cover up his black eye._ Lydia said to herself as she put some foundation and eye shadow on her eyes.

At school, she tried hard to not show how hot she is in her clothes. When she thought that no one was looking, she would wipe the sweat off her face. In her 4th-period chemistry class, Hogan leaned in and whispered to her.

“Did you have fun, last night babes?”

“Please don’t call me that,” Lydia whispered harshly.

“Phew, you smell like him. Disgusting. Smelling him on you makes me want to mark my territory all over you, again.” Hogan wrinkled up his nose, then put his mouth really close to her ear. He then lightly stuck his tongue out and touched Lydia’s ear. She pulled away from him, she moved her neck too hard and felt instant pain all over her sore body.

“Please stop,” Lydia whispered, harshly.

“I can feel your heat all the way over here. It’s hot, why are you wearing a long sleeve?” Hogan asked, his tone sounding sarcastic.

Lydia didn’t say another word to him. At lunch, Lydia’s stomach turned with anxiety. _Where did Beetlejuice go? Why did he leave me? Will he even come back? Is it because he’s still mad at me?_ These thoughts have been racing through Lydia’s head all day. Her stomach started hurting worse, she left the cafeteria and locked herself in her favorite bathroom. The bathroom where Beetlejuice came back again. Lydia splashed some cold water on her hot cheeks, pulled the sleeves up as far as they could go, and halfway pulled her shirt up to let some cool air touch her stomach. Lydia debated on whether or not she should summon Beetlejuice. _Screw it. I don’t care if Hogan hurts me_

“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,” Lydia said out loud.

A few seconds went by, nothing. _He normally comes faster than this._ Lydia thought to herself. A minute later, the familiar _poof_ of green smoke appeared.

_To Be Continued..._


	4. The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beetlejuice is plotting a revenge plan against Hogan for hurting Lydia. The plan doesn't go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((TW: A few mentions of r*pe and violence))

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," Lydia said out loud.

A few seconds went by, nothing. _He normally comes faster than this._ Lydia thought to herself. A minute later, the familiar _poof_ of green smoke appeared. At first, Beetlejuice didn't look Lydia in her eyes. His hair was back to his normal shade, with some faded tints of blue.

"Hey Lyds," he said quietly.

"Beej," Lydia whispered, running towards Beetlejuice and hugging him.

"You have every right to be mad at me for-"

"I'm not mad." Lydia interrupted Beej, looking up at him. She didn't let go.

"I just don't understand why you left," Lydia added, hugging him tighter.

"I didn't want you to see me mad," Beetlejuice answered.

"I don't understand. I have seen you mad before-" Lydia started.

"Not like I was last night. My hair set off the small loud evil thing on the wall in the kitchen." Beetlejuice said with a straight face.

"I'm just glad you're back." Lydia smiled. Suddenly she jerked away from him. _Oh no, now I have his fresh scent on me!_

"I shouldn't have done that, now I have your fresh scent on me. What am I going to do?" Lydia added, sighing loudly. Lydia started getting hot and sweaty again, she pulled her long sleeves up and ran her bruised arms under the ice-cold water.

"Damn Lyds, he got you good." Beetlejuice sadly chuckled.

"Ya, I couldn't walk around school looking like this, so I have to cover it up, and it's so freaking hot," Lydia complained, showing Beej her arms. He put the back of his cold hand on Lydia's forehead, it smelled like normal, but it felt nice.

"You are hot," Beetlejuice said, but as soon as he said it his face turned beet red, and his hair flashed into teal. He stumbled on words nervously trying to make up for what he said.

"That's not what I meant at all. You're not hot. Ahhh, you're not ugly. I... um......." He gave up then flashed a nervous sharp-toothed smile and chuckled.

"I get what you meant the first time Beej." Lydia laughed. _I'm guessing when his hair is teal, it means he's embarrassed! That makes so much more sense now._ Beetlejuice just chuckled more. Suddenly, the bathroom door started to rattle.

"Go back to the house, I'll call you later," Lydia said quickly, pushing Beej back towards the wall.

"See you in class." Then he _poofed_ away. _Wait, what?_ Lydia thought to herself stopping halfway between the wall and the door. She turned on her heels and rushed to the door and unlocked it. Hogan stood on the other side of the bathroom door.

"Let's talk more babes," Hogan whispered, pushing Lydia back into the bathroom and locking the door.

"Why does it smell of him so strongly in here? And if you lie to me-" he stopped himself.

"He came to visit me, we do it all the time. It's not a big deal." Lydia answered, trying not to add attitude to her words.

"Does he know?"

"No." Lydia snapped back quickly. Out of nowhere, Hogan grabbed her sore wrist and slightly twisted his arm. Lydia yelped in pain and gritted her teeth. Then he let go and walked out of the bathroom, Lydia held her arm and fought back tears. _I can't live like this anymore! Beetlejuice and I have to do something about that prick._

In the middle of Lydia's last class, her notebook fell out of her backpack. _I think BJ is trying to tell me something._ She picked up the notebook and opened it to a blank page. The pen on her desk started writing. This is why Lydia sat in the back corner of the class.

"Tell him to meet u @ the old Spring Park @ 11 tonite." The page said. Lydia knotted her head.

*******

Beetlejuice sat in the living room waiting patiently for Lydia to return home. The house was quiet, the Maitlands were both outside in the garden. And Charles and Delia were still gone at their business meeting. Once Lydia got home, she ran upstairs and shut her bedroom door. He didn't bother her, Beej just stood at the bottom of the staircase. A few minutes later, Lydia came out of her room in a tank top and a pair of shorts.

"So why do you want me to meet him tonight?" Lydia asked, walking down the stairs and pulling her hair up.

"I have a plan to get my revenge on that prick. And you're going to be the bait." Beetlejuice answered.

"What is your plan?" Lydia asked.

"I'm still ironing out all the details, but I have most of it worked out. I'm going to call the clones here in a bit and go over the plan with them, in private; I don't want the loser squad to know what I'm up to." Beetlejuice answered. Right on cue, Barbara walks into the house and stops dead cold in her tracks when she sees Beetlejuice.

"Lawrence Beetlejuice Shoggoth! You better be apologizing to Lydia for what you did last night! I should kick you're-" Barbara yelled, rushing over to them.

"Wait, Barbara, he already apologized. We're good now." Lydia nicely interrupted her ghost mom.

"You sure honey?" Barbara asked sweetly.

"I'm sure." Lydia dropped her voice and smiled. Barbara didn't say another word, she just glared at Beej and went back outside.

"I thought she was going to pound me," Beetlejuice muttered. "Now, let's go upstairs and talk about my plan." He raised his voice to a normal volume and floated up the stairs.

Up in Lydia's room, Beej called all of the clones into the room. Jam was so excited to see Lydia, he ran towards her and gave her a big hug. The louder clones started to get fidgety and wanted to leave her room.

"Hey, hey, hey, no one is going anywhere. We have a serious matter to attend to." Beetlejuice made all the clones sit on the floor. Lydia sat criss-cross on her bed, holding Jam in her arms, as Beej spilled out all the details of his revenge plan and what led up to this whole ordeal.

"I need some of you to be the main fighters, and some of you to be back watchers. From what Lydia told me, and his records, Hogan is a very powerful demon. So do not underestimate him, ever. Somehow, he got access to Ruby's Blade, if he whips that nasty thing out, don't try to disarm it from him, it will do damage to you." Beetlejuice informed the clones.

He looked back towards Lydia's bed, and she was leaning on the headboard, asleep, with Jam still in her arms, who was also asleep. Beetlejuice told the clones to move to his room to finish talking about the plan. _Lyds probably didn't sleep much last night._

*******

Lydia opened her eyes, her room was now slightly dark and empty. Jam was curled up like a cat on her chest, her neck ached from leaning on her headboard. Lydia looked around her room, trying to hear something. In the room next to her's, Lydia could faintly hear Beetlejuice's voice through the wall. She wanted to go in there and be a part of the revenge plan, but Jam was sleeping so peacefully. _I don't want to wake the kid up._ Lydia looked at her clock on the nightstand, it read 8:24 p.m. _I still have some time to spare before we have to leave, but I'm hungry now._ Lydia gently touched the top of Jam's head, he wiggled around and rubbed the sleepy out of his eyes. Lydia then scooted to the edge of her bed and carried the small clone downstairs into the kitchen.

"You want to eat something Jam?" Lydia asked, grabbing two frozen waffles for herself. Jam pointed at the waffles in her hands.

"Alright kid. I'm going to teach you how to say waffles." Lydia smiled, placing two waffles in the toaster.

While the two ate their waffles, Lydia got Jam to halfway successfully say 'waffles', he calls them 'waffes". Adam and Barbara came through the back door and greeted the clone and the teen.

"How are you doing Lydia?" Adam asked.

"I'm better, my arms still hurt a little bit," Lydia replied. Jam grabbed one of her arms with his syrup covered fingers and looked closer at the slightly fading bruises still on her wrists. Now that he looked closer at her arms, his expression changed. Jam looked up at Lydia with a sad face.

"Sissy hurt? Boss hurt sissy?" Jam asked, his lip quivering.

"No, he didn't hurt me. Somebody else did." Lydia answered reassuring Jam.

"Dat why Boss kicking butt ta nate?" Jam asked, pounding his fist into his other hand.

Lydia fake coughed loudly, so the Maitlands couldn't hear him. And it worked.

"Let's go and rinse that syrup off your face and hands bud," Lydia said, picking him up and sitting the small clone over by the kitchen sink. Barbara walked over to the sink.

"Can I do it?" She asked. He smiled, hugging Barbara and getting her green floral dress sticky.

"I'll be right back bud." Lydia smiled, turning and heading upstairs. Lydia slowly opened Beetlejuice's door. All of the clones were talking amongst themselves. He saw Lydia and walked to the door.

"We need to talk," Lydia whispered. They headed to Lydia's bedroom, and she closed the door.

"Are you trying to keep me out of your plan?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"No. I left so you could get some sleep." Beetlejuice answered he studied Lydia, trying to figure out why she's annoyed at him.

"The plan is for you to get him to confess to hurting you. And when you say the safe word 'waffles', then the clones and I will jump out of the bushes and kick his ass." Beetlejuice signed.

"Then?" Lydia asked.

"'Then' what?"

"What do you want me to do after you jump out?" Lydia's voice started to sound more annoyed.

"Pollux will be taking you and Jam home-"

"No! No way I'm leaving you alone to fight him." Lydia interrupted Beej.

"That is the way it's going to go. And besides, I won't be alone, the clones will be there fighting next to me." Beetlejuice tightened his fists.

"Why don't you want me there? _I'm_ the one that got hurt here, pal. I'm not leaving you alone with him." Lydia's voice dropped in determination. She took two steps towards the ghost/demon and stared harshly into his glowing green eyes.

"You are not staying. That's an order." Beetlejuice said sternly, but somehow calmly. He just turned his nose up at Lydia and flattened his ears. His hair turned completely orange. Lydia looked up at it. He noticed and took a few steps backward, and quickly walked out of Lydia's room, trying to cover his hair with his chubby hands. And that's the last thing Beetlejuice said until they got to the abandoned park.

*******

Lydia stood leaned against a tree, waiting for Hogan to show up. The early summer night air was cool and crisp. The small lake sat about a few yards away from the old playground. The half-moon gave off the low glowing light that Lydia enjoys, she could hear the crickets chirping all around her. The smell of the lake, blooming trees, and the night air made Lydia feel comforted for a moment; even though internally she's shaky and nervous. Lydia was soaking in all of the aesthetically pleasing senses around her, she didn't see Hogan emerging from the thick tree line on one side of the lake. _Don't show fear. You can stand up to him now, he won't hurt you anymore. Let's hope your plan works Beetlejuice._ Lydia thought to herself, taking slow deep breaths.

"Hey babes, this is a good spot to meet up in the middle of the night. It's quiet. Isolated. And it's not too hot." Hogan smirked with his charming smile.

"We need to talk about what happened last night," Lydia said sternly.

"Didn't you have fun though?" Hogan asked, stepping closer to Lydia. _He knows how to push my buttons!_

"No!" Lydia said loudly, gritting her teeth.

"Why not? You wanted it." Hogan said sarcastically.

"Excuse me?" Lydia raised one eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Lydia, dear! You were practically begging for me to do it. The way you were looking at me, the way you wore that dress." Hogan flashed his smile again, gently running two of his fingers through the tips of Lydia's black hair. She jerked her head away from him.

"I was _not_ leading you on in _any_ way. I was _not_ flirting with you at all. You're so perverted! You make me sick!" Lydia raised her voice.

"Well, I enjoyed every damn second of it babes-" Hogan said quickly, rushing towards Lydia. With one arm he grabbed her waist, and with his other arm, he grabbed a fistful of her short dark hair and forcing her to get closer to his face.

Out of nowhere, Lydia swung at Hogan as hard as she could, punching the pervert hard in the face. Anger swelled inside of Lydia as soon as he called her by one of Beetlejuice's nicknames for her. She swung so hard, Lydia twisted her body, almost making her trip over her own legs. She quickly recovered. Hogan was sitting on the ground, in a daze. His face was full of shock, and thin black blood started oozing out of one of his nostrils.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN, NOBODY CALLS ME THAT BUT BEETLEJUICE!" Lydia leaned forward, screaming as loud as her lungs could allow her. Hogan wiped his nose with the back of his hand and noticed the blood.

"Damn! I didn't know women were capable of hitting _that_ hard." Hogan sarcastically snapped.

Suddenly, he's body started morphing and changing. All his deep and twisted details that Lydia remembered from the library was standing in front of her again, breaking his human form. This time, he just had loose, black, long cloth pants, and no shirt. _This demon has a full rack of abs!_ Lydia chuckled nervously to herself. Out of nowhere, Hogan launched himself from the ground and knocked the wind out of Lydia as he pinned her down to the ground. His mouth opened to reveal terrifyingly long fangs and he growled at her like a rabid dog.

"Tell me why you raped me!" Lydia screamed in Hogan's face, squirming her body under his sharp grip on her.

"You wanted it!" Hogan answered, gritting his long fangs.

"Tell me the truth, right now! If you really cared about me, you wouldn't treat me like this!" Lydia said aggressively as she stopped fighting back for a second.

"YES, I RAPED YOU. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR?! I RAPED YOU TO GET BACK AT LAWRENCE. I knew that if I hurt the only thing he loves and cherishes, it will lead me closer to him!" Hogan finally admitted. _Yes! The plan is working!_ Lydia smiled as soon as he confessed. She belted out the safe word as loud as she could.

"WAFFLES!"

*******

_She said the safe word. It's showtime!_ Beetlejuice cackled to himself as soon as he heard the safe word. He leaped out of the tree he was hiding in, which was right below Lydia and Hogan, and as soon as he landed on the ground, he grabbed Hogan by the arms and tossed him off of Lydia. Hogan was caught off guard and rolled on the grass for a few feet. Beetlejuice quickly helped Lydia on her feet, then stood in front of her, his hair blazing red.

"Here I am now, you bastard!" Beej snapped. Hogan didn't say anything until he stood back up and brushed some dirt off his arms.

"Well, well, well. I have been waiting for you for weeks Lawrence." Hogan snapped back.

"Did you honestly think that you could hurt her and get away with it?" Beetlejuice pointed at Hogan.

"I doubt that you're all that you claim to be Lawrence. Self-proclaimed 'Ghost with the most', 'top bio-exercise'." Hogan said, avoiding the question.

"How do you know me? What did I ever do to you?! Who set you up to this?" Beej asked.

"A certain little birdy told me so much about you, about who you really are," Hogan said, avoiding Beetlejuice's questions again.

"Who?" Beetlejuice asked. _I'm getting tired of repeating myself. We will be here all night before I get all of my questions answered._

"Let's just-"

"What do you want from me?!" Beetlejuice interrupted Lydia, raising his voice.

"To suffer! We want you to suffer! Because Juno and I both despise you!

Do you know what she told me about you? It would take up too much time to tell you _everything_. But oh well, we both have all eternity." Hogan finally answered.

"Don't even speak of that woman!" Beetlejuice raised his voice more.

"She said that you are fat, lazy, ugly, useless--"

"Shut up!" Beetlejuice snapped, taking two steps closer to Hogan, Lydia grabbed one of his arms.

"-incompetent, feeble-minded, lame, retard, failure, and a stupid dumb freak." Hogan continued uninterrupted, he paused. "May I continue? There is much more she said about you."

"Shut up! Don't make this about me. You hurt someone I care so much about, and _no one_ gets away with that." Beetlejuice gritted his sharp teeth, taking another two steps towards the other demon. Lydia still had a hold of his arm, trying to hold him back. As soon as Beej said that, Hogan started to laugh.

"Do you really think that Lydia likes you? You? I mean look at you. Even your own mother didn't love you! No one loves you!" Hogan said, still laughing, he took two steps towards Beetlejuice and poked him in his chubby belly. Beetlejuice's hair suddenly went purple for a good minute.

"That's not true!" Beej spat with a wobbly voice.

"She said you were a disappointment, and that's the sole reason why your father left you, leaving Juno all by herself," Hogan said, rubbing Beej's hair like he's a child.

"Alright, that's enough!" Lydia yelled, stepping between the two dead guys. She pushed Hogan away. She turned around.

"Let's just go," Lydia said, grabbing Beetlejuice's arm again and trying to pull him away from Hogan.

"What?" Beetlejuice asked.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Lydia answered, not looking at Beetlejuice in his glowing eyes.

Hogan took a step towards Lydia, Beej grabbed her shoulders and pushed her behind him. Out of nowhere, Beetlejuice threw off his suit jacket and rolled up his undershirt sleeves to his elbows. Beetlejuice snapped his fingers and all his clones jumped out from various places around the lake.

"Pollux, take Lyds and Jam out of here," Beetlejuice ordered. Pollux was already carrying the small clone, he reached out and tried to take Lydia's hand. She pulled away.

"I am not leaving!" Lydia screamed.

"Take her and get out of here!" Beetlejuice yelled at Pollux.

Pollux didn't want to hurt Lydia, but the clone wanted to obey his boss and keep Lydia safe. Pollux gently tried to grab her arm, but she jerked away. Out of nowhere, Hogan pushed Pollux hard. As soon as he touched the clone's chest, electric blue sparks flew out of Hogan's hands, causing the two clones to fly backward, landing hard on the ground. Beetlejuice swung a flying fist towards Hogan, he saw it coming and veered out of the way. Hogan uppercut Beetlejuice in the stomach. Jay and Leo jumped at Hogan, holding Hogan by the arms. Hogan jerked his body around, trying to break free from the clones' grip. Lydia and Rigel ran over to Pollux and Jam. The clone had his whole body wrapped up around the kid, protecting him. The tiny clone crawled out from Pollux's arms and waited for him to wake up, but nothing happened.

"Pollux! Wake up!" Jam squeaked, gently shaking Pollux's shoulder.

Jam had soot all over his face and clothes, but Pollux had more on him. His striped overalls were almost completely covered in black marks. Lydia kneeled down next to Pollux, she could feel the heat coming off his body. Jam crawled on his hands and knees over on the other side of the clone and tightly gripped Lydia's tank top, tears started running down the kid's face. Lydia opened one of Pollux's eyes, they weren't rolled back. _So maybe that's a good sign. But what the hell did Hogan do to him?_ Lydia thought to herself, trying to take deep breaths. _Maybe he's just knocked out?_ Suddenly, Pollux started to stir, groaning in pain. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up.

"Pollux lay back down," Lydia said, putting her hands on his scorched chest.

He did what he was told and lied back down on the cool grass. Jam lay halfway on Pollux's burnt chest, with his hand, Pollux wiped away the small clone's tears. Suddenly, the sound of a painful scream averted Lydia's attention behind her. The rest of the clones were all bunched up together, surrounding Hogan. Lane was sitting up in the bank of the lake, screaming like a mad-man. _Why is he screaming like that?_ Lydia's thoughts were broken by Pollux's sweet voice.

"Lane! No water! No water!" Lydia racked her brain trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"Is water bad?". All three clones knotted their heads.

Lydia ran towards the lake's edge as fast as her wobbly legs could go. She was a few steps away from Lane and jumped in the cold, smelly lake water. When she got to the long clone, he was still screaming, unable to get up out of the water. Lydia hooked her elbows under Lane's arms and started to drag him towards dry ground. The longer she touched his wet clothes, a strange burning sensation swept through her arms. The closer they got to land, the worse the burning was. Lydia fought back the urge to cry out in pain. Once on land, Rigel was ready for them. He gracefully bent down and wrapped his ice-cold hands around Lane's moss-covered face. His yellow teeth were gritted together, Lane was still groaning and wincing in pain. Lydia looked at him and tried to figure out what water had to do with him being burnt. She looked at his hand, which was balled in a fist, it looked like chemicals were burning away his dirty pale skin.

"How can I help Rigel?" Lydia asked. He said nothing.

She took off her jacket and laid it over Lane, not knowing what else to do. Rigel hasn't spoken a single word since showing up at her house a few weeks ago, Lydia didn't know if he couldn't talk or just didn't want to. Suddenly, she saw black and white stripes flying by her, along with those blue sparks, going completely through a small tree. Lydia feared the worst. _Beej?_ She stood up and ran towards the stripes and the down tree. She brushed branches and leaves off his face. She took a sigh of relief knowing it wasn't Beej, but it was Bear, and he was out cold.

Beetlejuice thought that he had plenty enough man-power to fight with Hogan, but he didn't realize until now how powerful Hogan really is. Lane, Bear, and Pollux are out of the fight, for now; Lydia is checking on them. Jam and Rigel are probably not going to join the fight, they both are fragile. Hogan was winning this fight so far, the prick's draining energy out of Beej. _I hope we can get ourselves out of this mess._ Beej thought to himself, quickly checking on his down clones. Pollux and Lane were unconscious, Jam is now sitting at Bear's side, who is unconscious now after he went flying through a tree. The rest of the clones were fighting with Hogan. Beetlejuice ran over to Lydia.

"You alright kid?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Lydia answered quickly. She paused for a second, staring at something behind Beetlejuice.

"Bj behind you!" She warned, pulling Beetlejuice out of the way as Hogan swung his special glowing knife at the two.

Hogan missed Beetlejuice, but the tip of the knife slightly cut Lydia's arm. Lydia and Beetlejuice fell to the ground, Hogan raised his arm over his head to strike. Beetlejuice rolled his body over towards Lydia to shield her, he quickly threw his arm up to block the knife. Hogan stabbed Beetlejuice near his shoulder, he screamed in pain.Hogan pulled the glowing blue knife out of his shoulder and raised the black blood-covered knife over his head. Hogan struck again, this time, stabbing Beetlejuice in the side of his thigh, he groaned in pain again, he dug his finger's into the grass. Beetlejuice felt Lydia wrap her hands around his arm, and her forehead pressing into his back. Out of nowhere, Jam threw himself in between Beetlejuice and Hogan.

"Leave my sissy and boss alone!" Jam screamed, lowering his eyes at the knife-wielding demon.

"Get out of my way!" Hogan screamed, kicking Jam like he's an empty soda can. The tiny clone went flying over Beej and Lydia's heads.

Before Hogan could stab Beetlejuice a third time, Leo threw a bundle of fire at Hogan's head. Hogan turned around as Leo jumped on Hogan's back, and tried to snatch the glowing knife out of Hogan's hand. While Hogan was distracted, he rolled off Lydia and cupped her face, looking for injuries; Beetlejuice noticed the small cut on Lydia's arm, which is now bleeding slightly.

"Babes! Are you hurt? Are you alright?" Beetlejuice frantically asked, studying the cut.

"It's just a scratch Beetlejuice, I'm fine. I would ask you the same thing!" Lydia answered, looking at the quarter-sized hole in Beetlejuice's shoulder and leg. Thick black blood was oozing all over his undershirt and pants.

"Oh. Well, that's going to leave a mark." Beetlejuice joked. Lydia just rolled her eyes. Suddenly, they locked eyes.

"Stay here, I'll check on him," Lydia said, placing her hand on Beetlejuice's chest before he could attempt to stand up. Lydia ran over and checked on the small clone.

Beetlejuice turned his attention back to the fight. Leo was still on Hogan's back, throwing small balls of fire at his face. Hogan was very close to the edge of the water, trying to push Leo off his back. Jovi shapeshifted into a large goat and ran towards Hogan, Leo jumped off Hogan's back just in time as Jovi headbutted him in the chest, causing Hogan to fall backward into the lake. Hogan quickly stood up. Beta and Leo grabbed Hogan by his arms and dragged him on dry ground.

"I'm going to give you one chance to get the hell out of here." Beetlejuice threatened angrily, limping towards the detained demon. Hogan dropped his head and started softly laughing, and started getting louder.

"You think _I'm_ scared of _you_?! You must be out of your god-damn mind Lawrence!" Hogan raised his voice, widening his sharp crooked smile.

Lydia walked towards Hogan, with Jam tightly in her arms, and leaned down to get in his face.

"You have three seconds..." Lydia whispered angrily, holding the kid clone close to her chest.

"You know what Lydia. I didn't _want_ to hurt you, honestly. But then I remembered that Lawrence lives with you and that you are the most precious thing to him. You are an amazing little girl, but your collateral damage. What we had was fun, too bad it has to end tonight." Hogan said with his crooked smile still on his rough face.

Hogan swung his arms, sending blue sparks everywhere, slipping out of the two clones' grip. Hogan grabbed Lydia by her waist, causing her to drop Jam. Hogan flew a few feet over the water, pulled out the glowing knife, and placed it directly on Lydia's neck. Beetlejuice limped to the edge of the water.

"This ends now Lawrence! I don't want to have to do this."

"Don't hurt her! Please! Your right, she means a lot to me. Please don't do this!" Beetlejuice pleaded with Hogan.

"If I kill her now, you too can be together for all eternity. Then you would have plenty of time to look for your dead mom." Hogan yelled back at Beetlejuice, then directing his attention to Lydia. Lydia could feel the spiritual energy coming off the glowing knife.

"Your not God, that's not how this works! What do you want?" Beetlejuice asked, his hair started turning yellow.

"As I said before, I want you to suffer. If I kill her, you are going to fall apart, and I want to be there when that happens." Hogan responded, looking down at Lydia, who is trying hard to not fight back.

Her fingernails dug in Hogan's bare skin on his arms, Lydia's feet dangled a few feet above the deep murky water. _It's ok if he drops me, I can swim. But I don't know if I can wiggle out of his grip without nicking my neck on this jacked-up knife._ Lydia thought to herself trying to map out her options of escape. _I can't get out of this by myself._

*******

Beetlejuice's shoulder and leg started to feel like it was on fire, he wanted to fall to the ground, but Lydia needed him to be strong right now. His legs started shaking badly, Beta held his boss's arm to support him.

"Hogan, talk to me now. Tell me what was going on in your head while you were raping me." Lydia said with a shaky voice.

_I think she's distracting him, time to come up with a plan._ Beetlejuice racked his brain trying to find a way to quickly get to Hogan without slitting Lydia's throat. He can't fly or float, he's too weak to use his powers; blood is still oozing out of his two holes, and his head started spinning. Beetlejuice couldn't think of a plan. A cold hand touched his shoulder, Beej turned his head.

"Throw me." Lane said.

"Wha-"

"Throw. Me." Lane dropped his voice, interrupting his boss. Ben went up next to the battered clone.

"Lane, you can't fly. You will be wet!" Ben said with sadness in his voice.

"I know." Lane said strongly, looking Ben in his eyes.

Suddenly Beetlejuice fell to his knees, the tips of his knees touched the edge of the cold water. Hogan was still bragging to Lydia how much fun it was assaulting her in the library. Ben shapeshifted into a giant slingshot, Lane pulled himself back and released. Lane flew through the air, halfway to Hogan and Lydia, he shapeshifted into a large rattlesnake. Once he got to Hogan, Lane slipped the end of his tail between the knife and Lydia's throat and sank his large fangs into the space between Hogan's neck and shoulder. Hogan's glowing knife stuck into Lane's thick scales, Hogan let go of Lydia.

On land, Beta was snapping at the clones, making sure that they didn't try to go in the water to save Lydia. A few seconds after Lydia hit the water, her head popped out of the water. She whipped the water out of her eyes and looked up. Lane was now back into his normal form, with Hogan's knife handle sticking out of Lane's calf, which is heavily oozing blood now. Lydia waded in the water just in case Lane fell in, she knew for a fact that he can't fly. Out of nowhere, Lane shapeshifted back into a snake, grabbed Hogan's head with his body, and twisted his neck as hard as he could. Hogan's body went limp. Jay quickly flew over to the two and tried to catch Lane, but it was too late. Lane hit the water, shifting back to normal form, Lydia swam over to Lane, who was now screaming in tremendous pain. She looped one of her arms around Lane's chest and started swimming to the shore.

"Sissy! Give me his hand!" Jay said floating over the two.

Lydia stopped paddling and pushed Lane's arm up. Jay gripped Lane's hand and pulled him out of the dark water. By the time the two clones reached the edge of the lake, Lane was unconscious, and Jay gently laid him on the dry ground. The rest of the clones gathered around him. When Lydia reached the shore, she tightly hugged Beetlejuice, who was still sitting on his knees.

"Are you ok kid, did he getcha anywhere?" Beetlejuice asked quietly.

"I'm fine, are you ok?" Lydia responded, grabbing Beej's wrists. He only responded by nodding his head.

_I feel like absolute shit!_ Beetlejuice groaned to himself. _I haven't felt this rough in decades._ Lydia walked over to Lane and the rest of the clones, her soaked shoes making loud squishing noises. Beetlejuice crawled over to the Lane.

"Lane. Lane! Stay with me!" Beetlejuice put his hand on the side of his face. Lane didn't wake up at the touch of his hand. Beetlejuice looked down at the knife handle still sticking out of the clone's leg, he leaned down and slowly pulled the knife out and studied it.

"Lane! Wake up!" Jay yelled leaning down at Lane.

"We're leaving. Now." Beetlejuice said angrily, quickly standing up, which was a very bad idea. Good thing Lydia was close enough to catch Beej before he could collapse to the ground. Lydia agreed with Beej.

"Beta, can you round up everyone who is hurt, and get everyone who can walk partnered up with someone who's hurt?" Lydia ordered Beta.

*******

Beetlejuice had his good arm wrapped around Lydia's shoulders, halfway walking back home and Beetlejuice starting limping worse. Lydia struggled to carry Jam in her other arm, but there was no one else to carry him. The tiny clone couldn't walk quickly enough on his own after being kicked like a football. Bear was barely able to walk after being thrown through a tree, Pollux was helping Beta and Jay carry Lane, Jovi helped Rigel and Ben walk, and Leo was helping Bear. Lydia had to suck it up and keep going, they all wanted to take a break, but Beta told everyone to keep going. Out of nowhere, Jovi called out for help. Lydia set Jam down and ran towards the back of the group. Ben was passed out on the ground, not moving, then Rigel started moving more slowly and every time he did move, his body made crackling sounds.

"Rigel's freezing up. We have to get back to the house now!" Beetlejuice called from the front of the group.

"Who's going to carry Ben?" Lydia asked with an annoyed twist in her shaky voice.

"I'll carry Ben, you carry Jam," Beetlejuice said harshly, limping to where Lydia kneeled over Ben.

"Beetlejuice, you can barely walk by yourself! You are in absolutely no condition to carry anyone!" Lydia yelled.

"I can take care of my clones! Get out of the way." Beetlejuice screamed at Lydia as he shouldered his way past her. Lydia quickly moved to the side and did what he told her. She went back to the front of the group, picked Jam back up, and kept walking.

The whole way home, Lydia had a million and one thoughts swirling through her head. Then she remembered that her parents were supposed to be coming home that afternoon, and they don't know about the attack at the library. _What if the Maitlands told my parents? I left my phone at home on purpose, do they think that I ran away? Will they be mad at me for being raped? What am I going to tell them? How can I explain this all to them without them flipping their lids? What is going to happen to the clones that got wet? Why didn't Beetlejuice warn me about water being bad for the clones? That stubborn dumbass._ Lydia though in her head as they got closer and closer to the house.

Once the group made it past the covered red bridge and the cemetery, the long driveway up the hill was the last thing the group had to overcome before making it to the front doors. Lydia thought she was going to have a panic attack before she got to the door. She feared for her life even more once she saw the Maitlands on the front porch, arms crossed, waiting for them. She could hear them interrogating Lydia, she could take the shame anymore.

"Shut up! I need help!" Lydia screamed at the ghost couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment, or send some feedback.


	5. REST AND RECOVERY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the failed revenge plan at the lake, Beetlejuice and Lydia try to come back to normal, but things just keep getting worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((half of this chapter is a RP convo with CelticRose))

To Beetlejuice, coming back home felt like a war-zone. He tried so hard to focus, but he just couldn’t. His head ached and was throbbing worse than a bad hangover. For a solid twenty minutes, he stood in the middle of all the mess, zoning out. Beetlejuice’s shoulder and leg stopped hurting from where Hogan stabbed him, but the two wounds are completely numb. Beetlejuice didn’t say a single word since he limbed past the covered bridge in town. Adam helped take the badly injured clones into Lydia’s room, Barbara helped the clones that weren’t banged up so badly into his room. Lydia’s skin was paler than normal, and he also noticed her hair was still dripping water on the hardwood floors. The walk helped her dry off a little, but not much, she was very cold and shaky. Beetlejuice still felt rough from the fight. He looked down at his knees, which were shaking violently, but he couldn’t even feel it. Lydia scrambled around the house frantically trying to find a way to help the clones get better. Once Beetlejuice realized that everyone had been upstairs for ten minutes, Lydia rushed down the stairs and gently grabbed his wrists.

“Beetlejuice! Your hair, it’s….” Lydia said with the shakiest voice he has ever heard. It sounded like she was on the verge of crying. 

“your hair is black! What does that mean?” Lydia asked after a short pause. 

Beetlejuice didn’t say anything, instead, he reached his hand up and softly touched the side of her smooth face. Beetlejuice locked eyes with her, the way she looked at him made the world feel like it stopped completely. He quickly saw a tear run down Lydia’s cheek. Eventually, she stood next to him, guided him slowly up the stairs, and had him sit on the edge of her bed. Lane, Ben, Bear, Jam, and Pollux were getting settled in Lydia’s room near the window seat. Jam was curled up on the bed, a few tears running down his face as he watched everyone come and go. Once she set Beetlejuice on her bed, she rushed over to Ben, who was still unconscious, lying on a blanket on the hardwood floor.

“What happened, I thought he was ok?” Lydia asked Beta, who was standing over Ben. 

“I guess Ben got stabbed while we weren’t looking.” The Beta clone responded, pointing out five large stab wounds in Ben’s torso. Lydia covered her mouth and tilted her head back in disbelief. 

“How did I not notice?” She said angrily under her breath. Beta looked up at her.

“He hid it from us.” the clone answered harshly, standing up and walking out her room. Once he left, Lydia walked out of her room too and came back a few seconds later with a pair of Beetlejuice’s shorts. Lydia walked back over to her bed and handed the shorts to him.

“Can you change into these, I need to look at your wounds.” She said exhaustedly. She turned her back and walked over to Pollux. 

Beetlejuice didn’t argue back, he didn’t have the strength right now to say a snarky or witty come-back. He kicked his boots off, then quickly took his pants off and put on the old red basketball shorts, then reclined half-way on Lydia’s bed. He looked over at the pair of stained striped pants on the floor, it didn’t occur to him how much he was bleeding. After a few seconds, Lydia stood back up, grabbed a first-aid kit, then walked over to the opposite side of her bed, and climbed on top of the sheets. She sat crisscrossed on her bed as she dug around the large red bag, and pulled out a roll of wide wraps. Beetlejuice could see in her face that she was exhausted. 

“Can you take your shirt off please?” She asked, monotoned, and not looking him in his eyes.

“If I didn’t feel like absolute shit I would have a smart remark for that,” Beetlejuice said, his voice cracking.

“Come on, I don’t have all night. Take your shirt off so I can wrap your wounds up.” Lydia snapped with a straight face.  _ She’s not going to be taking crap from no one tonight. _ He still didn’t do it. Lydia rolled her eyes and groaned angrily.

“Do I have to do  _ everything  _ around here?” She snapped, starting to unbutton his shirt. He shoved Lydia away from him.

“Why are you acting like a child?” Lydia yelled, crossing her arms.

“I don’t want you to see me like that.” Beetlejuice lowered his voice.

“Like what? You’re not making any sense! I know what a shirtless guy looks like. I just want to make sure that you’re going to be ok. I care about you Bj.” Lydia said with a shaky voice. Beetlejuice looked in Lydia’s sorrow-filled blue eyes, he knew she was telling the truth.

“You care about me? So, all of that stuff that Hogan said was all a lie?” Beetlejuice said.

“Of course he was lying! Beetlejuice, I don’t care if you are a little chubby and have some scars here and there. I don't care that you smell awful. I could care less if you are everything he said, because I know who you really are.” Lydia said, grabbing one of Beej’s hands. 

Beetlejuice could feel his face start blushing. For once in a very long time, the demon was speechless. 

“Promise you won’t make fun of me?” Beetlejuice asked, after a few heartbeats of silence.

“I pinky-promise,” Lydia answered, smiling she reached her pinky finger out and wrapped it around his finger. 

Feeling super embarrassed, Beej unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor. His whole right side of his body felt completely numb and stiffer than a board, but he didn’t want to ask for help, so he just sucked it up. Lydia tried so hard not to stare at his scared and bruised body. He has old bruises covering a wide range on both sides of his ribs, his autopsy scars are now barely noticeable, on his arms there’s what looks to be human bite marks around the inside of his elbows, and finally, Lydia instantly found the giant semi-fresh hole in the center of his torso. Lydia slowly and hesitantly reached her out her hand and put the tips of her shaky fingers in the hole where she stabbed him a few months ago.

“Beej, I never apologized for stabbing you, did it?” Lydia asked, scooting an inch closer to him. 

“Don’t worry about it babes. After I left the first time, I realized what your plan was, and I figured out you had to do it. Just know that I don’t hold it against you.” Beetlejuice chuckled. Lydia smiled back and started wrapping up his two wounds.

In the middle of Lydia wrapping his leg up, Jam crawled over to the two and wrapped his tiny arms around Lydia’s stomach from behind and grabbed her tank top. 

“What’s wrong Jam?” Lydia asked. The tiny clone didn’t say anything, he just let go and sandwiched himself between Beetlejuice and Lydia and curled up in a ball like he’s a cat.

“Sometime’s when he wants to snuggle, he just gives you ‘the look’. The kid can be a little clingy sometimes.” Beetlejuice smiled looking down at the clone and started petting Jam’s messy green hair. Lydia went back to wrapping the wound.

“How did you get those bruises?” Lydia asked out of the blue.

“I don’t really want to talk about it right now. There’s just too much going on right now.” Beetlejuice responded, looking around the room. 

After Lydia finished tying the leg wrap in a knot, she went around checking on all of the clones, the Maitlands, who were up in the attic with Rigel. They shared their goodnights and Lydia went back to her room. Beetlejuice was lying more on his back than before and Jam was still lying next to him, now asleep.

“You should get some rest too Beej,” Lydia whispered, placing Jam’s favorite blanket over his tiny body.

“I will, but not right now. You go ahead and get some rest babes, I’ll be up for a bit.” Beetlejuice whispered back as Lydia grabbed a blanket for herself and started to lie down on the floor.

“Hey, you’re not sleeping on the floor, there’s room up here for you too,” Beetlejuice said, almost sitting up.

Lydia complied, and lied down on top of her covers and wrapped her blanket around her cold body. Once she got somewhat comfortable, she closed her heavy eyes and slowly drifted off. Beetlejuice didn’t want to go to sleep, he wanted to stand guard, just in case Hogan came back. He wrestled with himself in his head whether or not Hogan would come back or not. After a lot of internal conflict and dialogue, Beej looked at the alarm clock on Lydia’s nightstand; it read 3:27 a.m. By now, Lydia was in deep sleep. So for about ten minutes, Beetlejuice fought to stay awake, but he lost the fight and closed his eyes; which is something he has not done in decades.

*******

The bright morning sunlight seeping through Lydia’s room stirred her awake. She rolled over to her side and instantly realized something was different. She jerked her eyes open wide and scanned her room. The clones were still where they were from last night, Jam was sleeping in his hammock near the window seat. Lydia was by herself in her bed, under the covers, in a normal position, and Beetlejuice was nowhere in sight. Lydia pulled the covers off of her and peeked into Beetlejuice’s room. He wasn’t in there either. Lydia rushed down the stairs and noticed him on the couch. Lydia tiptoed to the couch to see that Beetlejuice was asleep, she quietly sat down on the living room rug next to the couch, staring at the sleeping demon. 

Lydia has never seen Beetlejuice asleep, ever, this sight fascinated her. Lydia studied every tiny detail about Beetlejuice’s face. Every spot of dirt, every bit of cobweb, she even noticed a few dead bugs in his hair and beard. Lydia then rested her head on the edge of the couch and gently ran her fingers through the tips of Beetlejuice’s green hair. She didn’t expect his hair to be soft, and she was right; his hair was greasy and gritty. Being this close to Beetlejuice, Lydia  _ really  _ got a nose full of his earthy, old, decaying smell. Something about the unusual way he smelled, she liked. Lydia didn’t care, she didn’t care if he was clean or if he did smell nice, he means a lot to her. Lydia rhythmically stroked his hair until she closed her eyes.

*******

Beetlejuice opened his eyes. Lydia’s head was resting on the edge of the couch cushion with her eyes closed. Seeing her getting rest made him smile. Beetlejuice gently rubbed her smooth cheek with the back of his cold hand. 

* * *

More than a little exhausted from the night before, she jolted awake, looking around like she may have to run at any moment. But his voice brought her back down to reality, that voice that was oh-so-familiar and comforting. Beej... BJ... Her best friend. Wide eyes turned to him, her heart slowly calming to its normal pace. 

* * *

"Sorry babes. Didn’t mean to wake you. How ya feeling?" Beej whispered to Lydia as she stood up and sat on the couch next to him.

“I’ve definitely felt better. But what about you? You got hurt worse than I did.” Lydia said.

* * *

"I'll be fine babes, don't worry about me. Did you happen to by chance check on the clones?" Beetlejuice asked.

* * *

“They were still asleep when I came down to check on you.” she paused, letting out a yawn. “That could have been a few hours. Didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

* * *

"Thanks for checking on them for me, but, I'm kinda worried about Lane. He got really wet last night." Beej said, suddenly changing his tone.

* * *

“We can always go check on them again.” She suggested, knowing that he had a strong connection to them. Of course, he did, they were literally a part of him.

* * *

"Why don't ya go back to sleep, I'll check on them," Beej suggested, handing Lydia a blanket off the recliner. 

* * *

The idea was tempting, she wouldn’t lie. Accepting the blanket, she wrapped it around her shoulders. 

“But you can’t check on them all by yourself,” Lydia said.

* * *

"I'm fine babes. I need to walk around and stretch my legs anyway. Breathers need more sleep than dead guys. Lie back down." Beej said standing up and facing Lydia. He then playfully rubbed the top of her dark hair like she's a kid. 

* * *

She frowned at the way he ruffled her hair, pushing his hand away. 

“I’m not a kid.” She mumbled under her breath, admittedly upset with the way he seemed to see her as such. 

* * *

Beetlejuice went upstairs and checked on the clones, all of them are in the same condition as he left them. A few mins later, he headed back downstairs. Lydia fell asleep by the time BJ came back downstairs. He carefully walked past the couch, trying to not wake Lydia up again. He went around the house, checking to see if anything changed or if there are any signs that Hogan has been to the house. After his rounds, he came back to the living room. 

Suddenly, Leo's loud voice erupted through the whole house. 

* * *

Lydia rolled off the couch, blinking blearily as she tried to process what the hell was happening. Then she saw a blur of red run past her. Running shorts. BEEJ! She jumped up, trailing after him up the stairs only to freeze in horror at the sight. 

In Lydia’s room, half of the clones were huddled around Lane. She pulled Leo aside, glancing between him and the dying clone. 

* * *

The injured clone was still lying on his back on the floor, but his coloring was strange, he looked like a black and white picture. Beej started to freak out, pushing clones out of his way to get to the double dying clone.

"Lane! Wake up bud. Stay with us!" he raised his voice, gripping the clone's shoulders.

* * *

“What’s happening? What can we do? Hey!” She snapped, needing his attention because she knew Beej would be too overwhelmed to help. 

“Talk to me.” Beej looked at her but didn't answer. He turned his attention back to Lane. 

* * *

"Lane!" Beej screamed at the black and white clone, shaking his narrow shoulders.

Out of nowhere, the clone opened his eyes. Beej put his hand on the back of Lane's head, supporting him. The clone opened his mouth, and the room fell deadly silent.

"Lyds..." Lydia rushed over to Lane, kneeling next to Beej and gripped his hand. 

"I'm here Lane, I'm right here," Lydia whispered. Lane squinted and smiled once he saw Lydia's face. then turned his eyes over to his boss.

"Goodbye boss...."

* * *

Lydia squeezed Lane’s ice-cold hand as tightly as she could, as if by holding him as tightly as she could keep him from dying. But she couldn’t. Watching what meager color there was drain from the clones face, it was like being dunked into a tub of ice water. She felt nothing. Numb. A scream ripped itself from her throat, but she barely registered it. Too many people she cared about were dying. Too many. Beetlejuice gently laid the clone's head back down on the hardwood floor, and before he could stand up, Lydia touched his shoulder. 

"Beetlejuice, I'm... I'm so sorry... If there's anything-" 

* * *

Beej looked at her and pushed her hand away. He stood up and turned to walk out of her room. Behind him, he heard Lydia raise her voice at him. He could tell she's now crying. 

"I'm trying to help you! Don't you walk away from me again! You walked out on me when I needed you, and now I'm here for you. You are going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me!" Lydia yelled. 

Beej turned his head to look behind him. She was crying and mad. 

"THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT NOW!"

* * *

“GODDAMMIT DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!?” She screamed back in reply, her sorrow bubbling up within her. Lane died because of her because SHE was stupid enough to get hurt. There was this feeling, like an inky black bubble rising in Lydia’s chest, filling her with such a terrifying rage. She had never felt this angry. Not when her mother died, not when Beetlejuice first betrayed her, not even when she stumbled home covered in bruises bearing the fingerprints of Hogan. But for him to walk away again? When they needed each other? This may very well be unforgivable. 

So she did the only thing she could do. She began digging furiously through the top drawer in her nightstand, pulling out the one moment she had kept of their failed wedding. A ring. 

“Do you know what this is? DO YOU?!?” She demanded, holding it up in his line of sight.

* * *

"I'm not stupid, I gave that to you before you backstabbed me; literally. What does a dumb ring have anything to do with one of my clones double dying?" Beetlejuice asked, raising an eyebrow. His hair was now starting to have streaks of orange. Lydia could tell he was now annoyed on top of being angry and upset.

* * *

“It’s not just a dumb ring.” She hissed, glaring at him with all of that hurt and anger inside of her. 

“It’s a wedding ring. OUR wedding ring. It’s a promise! A promise that we would be there for each other when we most need it! You walked away from me when I needed you, but I will be DAMNED if I walk away right now when you need me!”

Her body was trembling now, feeling so many things at once, not sure how to really address any of it. 

“Beetlejuice, that wedding happened. For whatever short time it was, I was your WIFE. I needed you! And you pushed me away!” Angry tears burned in her eyes as she threw the ring at his feet.

* * *

Beetlejuice picked the ring up and glanced down at the small ruby ring. He rubbed his thumb on the delicate etching side of the silver band before putting it in his suit pocket. He looked at the ground and muttered under his breath,

  
  


"It was just a stupid Greencard thing Lyds." 

Out of nowhere, Lydia gave him a hug. He was hesitant at first, he could feel her body still shaking. 

"Don't even think about pushing me away this time. You’re my best friend, but sometimes you can be a dumbass." Lydia chuckled. Beej let out a small laugh and accepted the hug for just a little bit. 

"I'm sorry about pushing you away, it was nothing against you. I just-" 

"It's ok." Lydia interrupted him. She let him go. 

"Do you need anything?" 

"No. Why don't you go lie back down," Beej answered.  
  


* * *

She stepped back, faking a smile through her unexplainable heartbreak. ‘ _ It was just a stupid green card thing.’ Of course, it was. _ Then why did it hurt so much to hear that? Without another word she walked back downstairs to the living room, sitting by the window and staring outside blankly. If anyone asked, she would have said she was keeping watch to make sure no one was coming. But in reality, she was trying not to break down into a sobbing mess. This was all too much, and her sleepless mind was taunting her, extolling the virtues of throwing herself off the roof.

* * *

Beej spent all of the morning in Lydia's room, sitting next to the colorless clone, just staring at him. A million thoughts raced through his head.  _ If Hogan comes back, Lydia is downstairs all by herself, never mind, the Maitlands are here. But I don't want to leave my clone. _ A familiar voice brought him back to reality. 

"Are you ok?" He turned his head, Barbara was now in Lydia's room. 

"Babs, please leave me alone." Beej choked out, turning his head back around.

“Beetlejuice, I’m so sorry,” Barbara said kindly, drifting over and resting her hand against his shoulder. “At least he went out for a good cause. Protecting Lydia.”

* * *

Speaking of Lydia, she had disappeared from downstairs. And of course, nobody noticed. Why would they? She didn’t matter as much as they would lead her to believe. If anyone bothered to look for her, they would find her tucked away in a little corner of the attic, staring at the door to the Netherworld.

* * *

_ Lydia! _ Beetlejuice yelled in his head as he heard footsteps upstairs.  _ Why is she up in the attic by herself? _ He knew Adam didn't make footsteps, and Rigal was moved to Beej’s room early this morning. He stood up and floated through the ceiling. In the attic now, he saw Lydia standing near the open door to the Netherworld.

"Lydia! No!" Beej yelled, running towards her and pulling her away from the door. 

"What were you thinking babes?!" He yelled, gripping her shoulders.

"Obviously she was trying to get away from you!" Hogan's loud voice echoed through the attic. Beej and lyds turned around. 

“Hogan! Get the hell out of here, now!” Beetlejuice threatened, gritting his teeth and pushing Lydia behind him.

“Na bro. I think I’ll just make myself at home.” Hogan snarked, showing his sharp twisted smile.

All of a sudden, Hogan threw himself towards Beetlejuice and Lydia. He went around Beetlejuice and went inside Lydia, possessing her. Hogan jumped at them before he could even react. Lydia’s body started floating a few inches off the ground, and she let out an earth-shattering scream. Then her blue eyes rolled in the back of her head. Lydia blinked, causing her eyes to change colors; her eyes changed to inky black with small blood-red pupils.

“Lydia!” Beetlejuice screamed when she started floating. He then whispered her name once he saw her eyes change colors.

“Lydia….”

  
  
  


_ (to be continued...) _


	6. POSSESSION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia is possessed! As if things couldn't get any worse for the Deetzland household.

Lydia finally stood on her feet. Her black and red eyes angrily glared up at Beetlejuice. 

“Kid…..” Beetlejuice whispered. His hair was now solid yellow with fear, he could also feel his chest tighten.

“I’m going to win this time Lawrence.” Hogan’s voice said, but using Lydia’s mouth to move.

Suddenly, Lydia punched Beetlejuice in the chest, causing him to fly backward, the hit shock the whole house. He crashed through the attic door, flew down the stairs, and dropped to the floor outside the bedrooms. Beetlejuice blacked out for a few seconds, he tried to stand up, with no success. The striped demon could only manage to balance himself on his elbows and bring his knees under his chest. He struggled to see straight, the powerful blow knocked the wind out of him, and the wounds from the other night started hurting again. Beetlejuice heard Lydia’s soft footsteps getting closer to him. He raised his head and looked at her purple socks as she got closer and closer. Lydia aggressively tilted his head upward with her hand, forcing him to look up at her.

“I’m going to make you  _ and _ the kid suffer!” Hogan threatened.

“Boss?” Jay’s voice echoed behind them. Beetlejuice jerked his head around, the clone was visually confused about the huge hole in the attic door, and that Lydia looked different than normal.

Lydia walked slowly around Beetlejuice, who was still on the floor and stopped a few inches away from Jay. Beetlejuice wanted to warn Jay about what just happened, but he couldn’t speak. It felt like there was something stuck in the demon’s throat, but nothing was physically there. He grunted as he tried to stand up.  _ Get up! Lawrence, get up right now! She’s going to kill Jay.  _ He ordered himself, now painfully on his hands and knees. 

Hogan’s voice never said a word, but Lydia’s arm pulled the glowing knife out of thin air, raised it over her head, and tried to stab Jay. The clone saw it coming and grabbed her wrist.  _ Crap! Crap! Shit! Shit!!! Get up!!!!  _ Beetlejuice screamed in his head, panicking, he tried to quickly get back on his feet. Beetlejuice heard something hit the floor, hard; he turned his head around. Jay had Lydia’s small body pinned to the floor, the knife now out of her hands. Beetlejuice finally had a little bit of strength to stand on his feet.  _ Why am I so out of energy? That blow that Hogan, wait no, Lydia, ugh nevermind. That blow blew out what energy and strength I gained from sleeping all day. _ Jay couldn’t keep Lydia’s possessed body pinned down for long, she headbutted the clone. The impact of the two skulls crashing together sounded painful, and Jay collapsed to the ground instantly. Lydia twisted her body and grabbed the knife, then floated a few feet off the floor and went towards the unconscious clone. 

Beetlejuice cleared his mind, and lunged at Lydia, causing them both to tumble loudly down the stairs; and stopping at the bottom of the stairs in the living room. Beetlejuice lay motionless on his back.  _ Well, that didn’t as planned. _ He cursed in his head as Lydia stood up, as though nothing happened. She then used one leg to pin his legs down and with her other leg, she put her foot on his chest. Lydia pulled out the glowing knife and aimed it right under Beetlejuice’s throat.

“I wouldn’t try doing anything stupid like that again. You wanna know why? Because every time you try to hurt  _ me _ , you’re actually harming _ Lydia _ ; and I know you wouldn’t want that.” Hogan’s icy tone rang through Beej’s ears.

“Wait! Please let me talk to her.” Beetlejuice cried out, trying to play the weak card.  _ Half of playing this card is how I honestly feel right now. I’m scared for Lydia’s sake of getting hurt, but what about me? Who is Hogan going to kill next? _

“Why would I let you do that?” Hogan asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Please…” Beej pleated. He then slowly reached up with his hand, and gently grabbed a fistful of the bottom of Lydia’s flannel PJ bottoms. Lydia rolled her dark eyes and huffed. Lydia still had Beetlejuice pinned aggressively to the floor in an amazon warrior pose. Hogan gave up control of her body, and her eyes went back to their normal shade of blue, but now, black small cracks started to form around her eyes. Lydia suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream, which made Beetlejuice almost jump out of his skin. Lydia rolled off of Beej and curled up into a fetus possession for a few minutes.

“Beetlejuice! What the hell happened? What is going on? Bj-” Lydia started panicking. She unraveled and started frantically looking around the room trying to make sense of everything, her breathing and heart rate started rising quickly. Beej held both of her wrists, trying to calm her down.  _ How am I supposed to know how to calm down a kid who just got possessed? _

“Lyds, Lyds, babes, look at me!” Beetlejuice interrupted her panicking using a soft and comforting tone. The sound of his familiar voice brought Lydia back down to earth, her breathing and heart rate went back to normal.

“I don’t have much time, I need you to distract him as much as you can,” Beetlejuice said quickly but still softly.

“Bj, I’m scared...” Lydia whispered with a shaky voice, sitting on her knees.

“Me too kid,” Beetlejuice whispered back, staring into Lydia’s terrified blue eyes.

Suddenly, Lydia let out another painful scream, causing her to land back on the floor; and her eyes went back to being black and red.

“Time’s up.” Hogan snapped, Lydia’s body then stood up.

“What? You didn’t give me enough time!” Beetlejuice said aggressively, getting on his feet.

“Cry about it!” Hogan yelled, launching at Beetlejuice, causing Lydia’s hand to ball into a fist and swing at him. 

The striped demon dodged it and kept dodging as Hogan kept trying to punch him.  _ I’ve had enough of him! _ Beetlejuice could feel his hair turn red with anger. He had enough of this once sided fight, Beetlejuice swung his fist as hard as he could, hitting the side of Lydia’s face near her eye. She fell to the ground and covered her face with her hand.

“Beetlejuice! Why the hell did you do that for?” Lydia snapped in pain, anger, and confusion. 

_ Did she feel that? I thought Hogan had control of her, but why can she talk to me now? Her eyes are back to being some-what normal right now. Ugh, I’m so hecking confused... _

Beetlejuice’s train of thought was put to a halt as Lydia pushed him down to the floor again, and held the glowing knife up to his throat for a second time. Hogan took back control, and Lydia’s face looked angry. But out of nowhere, a tear landed on Bj’s face.  _ Is that her crying?  _

“Lydia! If you can hear me, fight back! And whatever happens next is not your fault!” Beetlejuice yelled. 

“I’ll try...” a faint whisper escaped from Lydia’s mouth, it was her voice.

Hogan then forced Lydia to go crazy and repeatedly try to stab Beetlejuice with the glowing knife. He dodged all but two, one strike in his bad arm, the second on his wrist of his other arm. Beetlejuice could feel Lydia’s body get stronger, or him getting weaker; Beetlejuice couldn’t tell.  _ This is all my fault! I let my guard down for one second and my best friend got possessed. I was too selfish to realize that Lydia was left alone. Where were the stupid Maitlands, why weren’t they helping to watch her? _

***

Lydia looked all around her in the empty abyss of her mind. She caught a glimpse of Hogan standing a few yards away, with his back turned. Lydia was still on her hands and knees ever since Hogan possessed her.  _ I have to try to fight back! I have to, or else I’ll end up killing Beetlejuice for good! It will be all my fault if I let that happen. _ Lydia thought to herself as she tried to crawl towards Hogan. She was already drained from what happened the past two or three days (she can’t exactly remember), but the longer Hogan has control of Lydia, the more exhausted and drained she feels. She just wants to close her eyes and drift off. _ But I can’t!  _ She screamed at herself, causing her to jump. She had to do what Beej said, she had to try. Lydia again started dragging herself closer to Hogan.

“I wouldn’t try to save him, dear, he’s not worth the effort.” Hogan snapped, looking behind him. Lydia grunted as she continued to crawl. 

“I have to... Ahh... I have to... try.” Lydia said exhaustedly. Out of nowhere, a loud and painful ringing in her head started to flare up. Hogan said something else but Lydia couldn’t hear him. She pressed her head to the cold black floor, closed her eyes, and tried to concentrate; but that was near impossible at this moment.

Suddenly, the sound of a horrible, gravely, familiar scream echoed around in Lydia’s head.  _ Beetlejuice! _ Lydia shot her head up, she saw her body standing over Beetlejuice and holding the glowing knife, which is now in his bad arm. Lydia’s stomach started to churn with crippling fear for what may happen next. Beej kept screaming in pain as her controlled body stabbed him again, this time in the side of his good arm, as he tried to block the blow. Lydia now wanted to wake up from this hellish nightmare.  _ No, no, no no! This can’t be happening!  _

“STOP! YOU’RE KILLING HIM! PLEASE, STOP!” Lydia screamed painfully at the top of her lungs at Hogan.

At last, Hogan turned around and faced Lydia. She started getting ticked off.  _ Nobody hurts my best friend and gets away with it! _

“Listen here you little--” Lydia grunted, trying to stand on her feet.

***

The sound of a key and lock turning, and the front door opening wide caused Lydia and Beetlejuice to divert their attention towards the open door. Charles and Delia stood halfway in the doorframe with mixed expressions on both of their faces. 

Charles had on a casual business suit, a horrid looking polka-dot tie, and luggage under his arms. Delia had on a horrid looking brown and lime green jumpsuit.

“Chuck! Red! Get out of here!” Beetlejuice screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Why sweetheart? Oh, I see, you two are playing a game.” Delia asked in dumb confusion.

“Delia, I don’t think there-”

“Lydia has been po-” Beetlejuice screamed, even louder this time.

“Lydia, stop acting so silly and come give me a hug.” Delia interrupted. She put on a big dopey grin and held her arms wide open.

Lydia wiped all expression off her face, stood up, and slowly limped towards her living parents.

“Get the hell out of here now!” Beetlejuice screamed, trying to get back on his feet before Hogan can use Lydia to kill her parents. 

Finally, Charles grabs his screaming wife and disappeared. Beetlejuice could halfway get back up so he did the only thing he could do, grab Lydia’s legs. She fell hard, facefirst on the hardwood floor. He scrambled up her side and tried to pin her down. 

“Beetlejuice! What is going on here?” Barbara’s annoyed voice rang through the house. He didn’t even look up at the lame ghost couple.

“‘Bout time ya showed up! I’ll explain later, just help me hold her down!” Beetlejuice yelled, still struggling to keep Lydia down.

Before Adam could say anything, Lydia grabbed him by the shoulders, picked him up, and threw him against the door to the basement. The Ghost landed on the cold basement floor with a loud crash, it sounded just like when Adam and Barbara died; the sound was hauntingly familiar to the ghost couple and Beetlejuice. 

“Adam!” Barbara screamed as terror started choking her.

The sound of Lydia snarling and growling like a rabid animal forced Barbara’s attention to the situation at hand. Added to Lydia growling, she started drooling everywhere and slightly foaming at the mouth. Barbara gasped under her breath at the awful sight, it caused her to freeze, not knowing how to help. But Beetlejuice’s voice pulled Barbara back to reality again.

“I need you to pin her down, I have to grab something that will help her!” Beetlejuice said, trying to be heard over the animal noises coming from Lydia. 

Barbara nodded her head, and took over, pinning down Lydia hard on the floor. The striped demon had full confidence that Barbara could hold almost anyone down. Beetlejuice tried to stand on his feet, but tumbled over and collapsed on the hardwood floor in the space in between the living room and kitchen. A few feet away was a small nightstand near the front door. He crawled to the nightstand, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a large dark purple drawstring pouch.

Before Beetlejuice could open it, behind him he heard a loud crash. He turned his head in time to see Barbara on the opposite side of the living room, laying on the ground. Lydia rushed towards him, her eyes the reddest he has ever seen, and jumped on top of Beetlejuice. The glowing knife back in her hands, she held it over her head, ready to stab Beetlejuice for the third time today. Out of nowhere, his vision started getting blurry and he realized his whole body was now completely numb. 

No pain, no emotion, no feelings, nothing.

In the blink on an eye, Lydia was off of Beetlejuice and a few inches away from him. A clone laying on the floor under Lydia’s strong grip, being stabbed repetitively by Lydia’s possessed body. Beetlejuice had to physically shake his head to see clearly. He instantly recognized which clone it was.  _ It’s Ben! _

Seeing black blood quickly spilling all over the floor caused Beetlejuice to only feel one emotion, blind anger. And with that, he somehow found an overwhelming boost of energy. He stood up, aggressively tackled Lydia to the ground; kneeling over her with his knees by her side, he yanked the glowing knife from her hands, raising it over his head, and finally stabbing Lydia in the center of her chest. The teen went limp instantly. Black blood quickly started oozing out of Lydia’s chest.


	7. THE GLITCH

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recovering from a possession is hard on any breather. Adding on to exhaustion and anxiety, Lydia relies on Beetlejuice to "fix her" and to take care of her. But exorcising a powerful demon is a tricky task, and it puts their friendship on the line.

Beetlejuice looked down at the black blood-covered knife, he threw it across the room.  _ What did I do?! Did I kill Lydia? No, no it should have worked, Hogan had control of her when I..... _ Beetlejuice paused, not wanting to think about what he just did to his best friend.  _ He had control of her, he should be gone now.  _ Non-gracefully, he rolled off of Lydia and cradled her small body in his arms, and sat on his knees for more support.

“Kid, please wake up. Come on, come on babes wake up.” Beetlejuice pleaded. 

He scanned Lydia’s body for a breath, eye’s opening, a sign; something to reassure him that she’s still alive. But nothing happened.

Beetlejuice could only feel the cold black blood seep into his striped suit, and her very faint breathing. The sound of two sets of heavy footsteps coming towards Beetlejuice caused him to look up. Charles and Delia sprinted into the house, both of them had looks of utter horror on their faces. They were also yelling nonsense, Beetlejuice just tuned all out; until Charles tried to rip his bleeding daughter out of the striped demon’s arms. Beetlejuice growled at Charles, twisted his body away from Lydia’s father, and held her closer to his chest.

“Beetlejuice, hand her over, now. If she’s bleeding we need to take her to the hospital.” Charles said, trying hard to not lose his temper. 

“NO!” Beetlejuice yelled. He lowered his pointed ears, barred his sharp yellow teeth, and scrunched up his face.

Out of nowhere, Barbara snuck up behind him and attempted to touch Lydia’s arm, Beetlejuice tried to bite the ghosts’ hand.

“Beetlejuice this is serious! Let her go right now!” Barbara raised her voice, not out of anger, but worry and concern. 

As soon as Barbara finished her sentence, Adam crawled out from the dark basement, limping, battered, and dirty. The ghost couple hugged each other and started talking, at the same time, Lydia’s parents started raising their voices at Beetlejuice. The noise of all four voices, including the one in his head, started to drastically overwhelm him. It became too much, it seemed like the room was spinning. Beetlejuice suddenly felt a monster headache pierce his decaying brain, nausea and even more fatigue flooded his entire body. Beetlejuice tensed up his whole body in a split second. He wanted to escape from his nightmare with Lydia, to take her away from all the noise and blood and chaos, and help nurse her back to health.  _ I can’t do that yet, I still need to exorcise her. _

***

In the attic, Beetlejuice could take a few minutes to finally breathe (even though he didn’t physically need to). Now his piercing headache was gone, and Lydia slowly started to stir. The Maitlands and the Deetz’ waited nervously, but patiently at the side, out of Beetlejuice’s way. 

Now the real work starts. In the middle of the attic, Beetlejuice gently placed Lydia on the hardwood floor. Then he took a container of salt, and poured it out on the floor around Lydia, to form a circle around her. Unexpectedly, Lydia jerked awake and started breathing hard and loudly. Still flat on her back, she frantically looked around for Beetlejuice. Both sets of Lydia’s parents whispered amongst themselves and took half a step closer.

“Beetlejuice! Where are you?” Lydia finally let out a loud cry.

The salt circle started glowing red, _ it should start working in a second. _ Beej thought to himself, trying not to stand too close to the circle. He quickly glanced at the adults, they were far enough away out of harm.

“Lydia, I’m right here, ok. I need you to stay still for a few minutes. Everything is going to be ok. Babes, don’t look down!” 

Beej tried to assure Lydia, but she started having a panic attack as soon as she looked down, seeing the ink like blood still flowing from her chest, and the quarter-sized hole the knife left behind. Lydia sat up, her breathing started to speed up more, and her body started shaking like a leaf. 

At last, the salt circle started doing its job, so Beetlejuice thought. Lydia’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed back to the floor and started having a massive spasm. 

“Lydia!” Charles yelled.

“Beetlejuice, do something! Why is she having a spasm?” Adam rushed over to Beej.

“I’m coming, Lydia! Hey, let me go, Barbara!” Delia shouted as Barbara held her back from running headfirst in the salt circle.

“It’s too dangerous Delia.”

“No, no, no! This isn’t supposed to happen! She’s not supposed to seize! I don’t know how to stop it!” Beetlejuice unwittingly started raising his voice. 

Without knowing what else to do, Beetlejuice ran and jumped in the glowing red circle and held Lydia in his arms again. As soon as he jumped in, he could feel unbearable pain instantly take over his body, and hear the sound of gasping from all the adults. He sucked it up; gritting his teeth and fighting back every urge to let out a scream. A few heartbeats after he started holding Lydia again, her seizures stopped, and the overpowering red glow started fading. The salt left a thick black burn ring in the middle of the dusty attic. 

“Lydia?” Beetlejuice whispered. The girl slowly opened her eyes and smiled once she saw Beetlejuice’s face. He instantly smiled back, relieved to know she was ok for now.

“Delia, I need your help with something, there is a list of oils in that pouch, I need you to mix those things together for me. Barbara, go help her. Chuck, carry Lyds to her bed. Adam, help me to Lydia’s room.” Beetlejuice ordered the adults as nicely as he could. It shocked himself at how outwardly he’s calm about the circumstances. 

All the adults did as he said. Beetlejuice could tell that Lydia was totally exhausted, she faded in and out of conciseness. He lied down across the foot of Lydia’s bed, staring at the ceiling. The demon could feel the last rays of sunlight fade from his face. Beetlejuice just desperately wanted to sleep, but he forced himself to stay awake, just in case Lydia’s condition changed. He turned his head, Lydia was sound asleep under her covers. The young woman fell asleep as soon as she drunk the cleansing oils. The demon smiled.  _ She’s resting, that’s good. I’m so tired, maybe I can close my eyes for a few minutes. _ Beetlejuice thought to himself as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

***

A few hours later, Beetlejuice forced himself to wake up. Now it was pitch black outside, and it was almost 10 at night. He rolled over to check on Lydia, but she wasn’t under the covers anymore. He sat up quickly and hit his head on something hard. He looked up, Lydia was levitating five feet in the air over her bed. Eyes locked on her floating body, Beej floated up next to her; her eyes were shut, and there were no black cracks around her eyes either.  _ Why is levitating? Is it because of the salt circle or the oils?  _ Beej racked his brain trying to think of a possible answer. He floated down to the floor and started pacing back and forth next to her bed. A few seconds later, he heard a loud  _ thud _ , Lydia had stopped floating and is now on top of the covers with her eyes wide open. 

But there was something different about her eyes.  _ They're red instead of blue! I guess the salt circle didn’t clean her all the way out. Time for plan B.  _ Beetlejuice thought to himself. Out of nowhere, Lydia turned her head towards him and started growling.  _ Uh oh, time for plan B, now! _ Lydia sat up, and lunged at Beetlejuice, he stepped back in time. Beetlejuice grabbed Lydia from behind, under her arms, and practically dragged her into her bathroom, kicking and screaming. All the adults came running in as soon as they heard the ruckus.

“Turn the water on and pour that green bottle in the tub!” Beetlejuice screamed at Adam. Adam turned the water on, grabbed the bottle of green liquid that was on the countertop, and pulled the cork off. 

“All of it?” Adam asked, his voice shaking.

“YES, ALL OF IT! POUR IT IN THERE! --FASTER!” Beetlejuice screamed over Adam’s question. The ghost did as he was told, almost dropping the glass bottle in the tub.

“Lawrence, what are you doing?” Charles asked. 

Beetlejuice ignored him and threw Lydia as hard as he could in the tub; which also caused his fresh stab wounds including his old ones to start burning with pain. The sound of her small fragile body smacking against the tile made all the adults almost jump out of their skins. Lydia looked up at Beetlejuice, her red eyes burning with anger. Her demon growled at him as the bathtub started filling up more and more. Adam, Charles, and Barbara rushed towards Beetlejuice; without turning around, he snapped his fingers. An invisible hook wrapped around the adults and tossed them out of the bathroom like a bag of trash, and the door was completely sealed.  _ No ghost or no breather is coming in this room until I’m finished. _ The striped demon thought to himself darkly. 

“Beetlejuice! Open the door!”

“Open this door right now!”

“Lawrence!”

“What are you doing to her, Beetlejuice?!” All four of the adults loudly rambled all at the same time, all in different tones of emotions. And he ignored all of them.

He stepped closer to the tub, coldly staring Lydia’s demon in the eyes. Suddenly, Lydia’s demon gave up control before Beetlejuice could do anything more.  _ No! The oils in that bottle won’t work unless the demon has full control! Plus her head has to be under the water. _

Beetlejuice hatched a new plan quickly. He rested his clunky boot on the rim of the tub and leaned closer to Lydia, who had a mix of exhausted and confused written on her face. He snapped his fingers again, Ben’s black and white body popped up on the dark wooden floor, right where Lydia could see. 

“Beej did I....... Did I do that? Did I kill Ben?” Lydia stuttered in fear. Beetlejuice just nodded his head in reply.

Out of nowhere, Beetlejuice grabbed a fistful of Lydia’s short black hair and slightly pulled her up. 

“Beetlejuice! What the hell are you doing?” Lydia screamed in anger.

“Look what you did!” Beetlejuice said with a deathly cold tone.

“Stop it! You’re hurting me!” Lydia cried out in pain in her raw voice.

“LAWRENCE, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU HURT LYDIA ANYMORE, YOUR ASS IS OUT OF HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME?” Charles screeched as loud as his lungs could allow him.

“LOOK AT HIM! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” Beetlejuice screamed louder.

“Beej, I’m sorry-”

“SORRY DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT LANE  _ AND _ BEN ARE GONE FOR GOOD BECAUSE OF  _ YOU _ _!_ ” Beetlejuice continued raising his gravelly voice until it echoed in the small bathroom.

“Earlier I heard you say ‘whatever happens next is not my fault’.” Lydia’s voice sounded more brittle than before.

“Well, now it is. You know what else is your fault? Emily dying. Ya, I said it. It’s your fault that your mom is dead-” Beetlejuice kept antagonizing her until she finally snapped, her demon taking back control.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! DON’T SPEAK OF MY MO-” Lydia’s demon screamed. 

Beetlejuice only had one shot at this before the spell in the bottle vanished. Still having a tight grip of Lydia’s hair, with his other hand he pushed her head underwater and started counting under his breath. As soon as her head went under the green water, black dye started leaking into the water from Lydia’s body.

“1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10.” And at 10, he stopped and yanked Lydia’s head out of the black and green swirling water. 

Lydia’s eyes were back to being that deep blue color, so Beetlejuice hooked his hands under her arms and hoisted her out of the tub and laid her wet body in his lap. She was now passed out and not breathing. With the back of his hand, Beetlejuice tapped Lydia’s checks a few times. 

At last, she woke up and coughed out water on Beetlejuice’s chest. 

“Lydia! Lyds, babes. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, none of those things I said was true. It was all a lie I swear. I’m so sorry babes.” Beetlejuice rambled, quickly stroking Lydia’s wet hair out of her face.

_ Is she going to be pissed off that I said those awful and cruel things to her? Will she want me to leave forever?  _ Beetlejuice could feel his hair turn purple now with the thought of her hating him. Now that she was awake, a million thoughts ran through his head. But she ended up saying nothing at all. Lydia just caught her breath, buried her head in his chest, and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. After a few seconds of realizing that she’s not mad at him, Beetlejuice wrapped his arms around her too.

Beetlejuice and Lydia just sat on the floor of the bathroom for about 5 minutes, just soaking in the feeling that this nightmare is finally over.  _ We won! _ Beej smiled.

The two enjoyed this sweet moment together. Holding Lydia in his arms brought a weird feeling in his chest. A feeling that he remembers having a few times before when he and Lydia were hanging out or causing chaos together. Now that unknown feeling is stronger than it has ever been, Beetlejuice couldn’t explain it out loud or in his head, even if he tried. For a split second, he thought his hair changed to pink.

Randomly, Beetlejuice remembered that all the adults were still locked out. Without turning around or looking up, he snapped his fingers; causing the seal on the door to be broken, and the clone’s body vanished. Then Beetlejuice leaned closer to Lydia and placed his chin on top of her wet head. As all the voices of angry parents and ghost parents started filling up the bathroom again, Lydia dug her head deeper under his chin.

“Beetlejuice! Let her go and get out of here!” Barbara yelled, standing right above him. 

“I need to rest. Can we talk in the morning?” Lydia’s mouse-like voice made the whole room fall deathly quiet.

Beetlejuice finally looked up at all the adults surrounding him and the teen. They all glanced at each other before anyone said a word.

“Ok, but we will talk about this in the morning. Beej, you're sleeping in the attic with me and Adam so we can keep an eye on you.” Barbara finally said, pointing at the striped demon.

“No, he stays with me.” Lydia quickly blurted out, pulling her head away from Beej’s chest, and staring coldly into Barbara’s eyes.

***

Lydia curled up under the covers. Now that she was dried off and in a change of pajamas, she could finally relax and rest. Lydia now has on a baggy black t-shirt and long fleece sloth pattern pants. Her clock read 11:24 pm.,  _ now I can finally get some sleep!  _ Lydia thought to herself as she closed her eyes. 

Thinking about what happened most recently, she was very lucky to even have Beetlejuice in the same room as her. She could feel all the negative energy that was choking the old house, most (if not all) was directed at Beetlejuice.  _ Tomorrow morning is going to be rough. Dad will most likely force Beej to leave and never come back, and forbid me to see him ever again.  _ The thought of losing the most important person in her life made her stomach churn.  _ I have to do whatever it takes to make sure he can stay, I need him here with me. I could care less if he is a literal demon.  _

Just as Lydia was about to fall asleep, she felt the covers move slightly, but she didn’t think about it too much. Then two arms wrapped around her waist, and someone’s forehead pressed against the curve in her back, she turned her head to see who it was. But all she could see was deep purple hair and a grey hoodie. 

“Beej? What’s wrong?” Lydia whispered, her voice sounding exhausted. She then rolled over to face Beetlejuice. He looked up at Lydia, then out of nowhere, he moved up, cupped her face, and gently kissed Lydia's forehead.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Beetlejuice whispered, his voice started to crack. 

Lydia’s face suddenly flushed, she didn’t know what to say or do for a few heartbeats. Lydia cleared her mind, took in a calming deep breath, and just went with what she was emotionally feeling at that moment. She placed her hands on the side of Beetlejuice’s head, stroking the purple hair around his pointy ears.

“Look at me,” Lydia whispered a little louder. Beetlejuice glanced straight into Lydia’s comforting ocean blue eyes. 

“I’m here right now. I’m not going anywhere. I will always be right here.-” Lydia paused, pulling Beetlejuice’s head towards her chest. “Hear my heart beating? I’m still breathing and I will never leave your side no matter what happens.” He then pulled his head away from her chest and locked eyes with Lydia.

“Why were you up in the attic?” Beetlejuice randomly asked.

Lydia’s heart started beating faster.  _ I can’t lie to him, but I can’t tell him the real reason! What if he doesn’t feel the same way I do? Ugh, what do I do? Think Lydia, think!  _

“I needed to clear my head and sort my feelings out for you.” Lydia bluntly said with her eyes closed.

“What?” Beetlejuice asked.

“You said earlier that the whole wedding was ‘just a stupid green-card thing’ and it felt like a stab in the back. To me, it wasn’t _ just _ a ring or a stupid fake wedding. To me, it now feels more than that, I-” Lydia paused.

“I’m sorry. I’m just really tired and I’m not thinking straight.” Lydia mumbled, pulling the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes.

“I’m here if you want to talk about it later. Get some rest Scarecrow.” Beetlejuice whispered softly wrapping his arms around her arms.

Eventually, after finally finishing sorting her feelings for him, Lydia fell asleep and came to her conclusion.

***

Beetlejuice finally drifted off to sleep.  _ Wonder why she got so upset about me calling our green card marriage stupid? Does she have feelings for me? I thought we were just best friends, but now that I think about it, I think  _ I _ have feelings for her. That’s probably the weird feeling I’ve had for a while now.  _ Beetlejuice was lost in thought until he heard an awful hacking noise. The demon woke up instantly, Lydia was out of bed, and her bathroom light was on. He jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. Lydia was on her knees hugging the toilet. He heard that noise again as Lydia vomited more. Beetlejuice kneeled down by her and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Lydia realized he was there and turned her head slightly to look at him. Now he noticed she has dark bags under her eyes and her skin looks paler than normal. Beetlejuice glanced in the toilet, there was nothing but black liquid swirling around in the water. 

“Why is it black?” Lydia mumbled, sounding more exhausted then earlier.

“It’s just your body getting rid of the evil stuff I guess. It shouldn’t la-.” Beetlejuice answered, but was interrupted by Lydia’s loud vomiting. He rubbed her back in smooth and gentle circles as she hacked. Beetlejuice noticed Pollux walk in the bathroom.

“Pox, can you grab a washcloth and run it under cold water?” He asked the clone. Pollux did as his boss asked. Beej folded the small towel and held it up to Lydia’s oddly warm forehead. Beej blindly searched for a thermometer in the top drawer, Jam sleepily rubbed his eyes as he wandered into the bathroom holding his blanket.  _ I guess the noise woke him up. _

“Sissy?” The small clone mumbled. 

Pollux walked over to Jam and carried him out of the bathroom. When Lydia was done puking, Beetlejuice carried her bridal style out of the bathroom and laid her in her bed.

“Where do people in this era put the thermometer?” Beetlejuice asked.

“In the mouth.” Lydia chuckled.

After the thermometer beeped, Lydia looked at the numbers and groaned. She lied back on the bed and closed her eyes. Beej looked at the numbers, it read 99.8. Beej got on Lydia’s phone and googled what those numbers mean.  _ “Low-grade fever”, poor Lyds.  _

He waited for Lydia to fall deeper asleep before he left her room. He floated into her parent’s room just down the hall, the couple slept in their bed like everything was normal.  _ If you two idiot’s only knew what was going on... _ The demon stuck his tongue out at them and moved on to the attic. For a second, his green hair erupted red. The Maitlands were also asleep!  _ Oh god/satin, doesn’t ANYONE care about her other than me?! _ Beej thought to himself angrily as he vanished from the attic and appearing in Lydia’s room. He carefully got under the covers, trying not to wake her, and held Lydia close to him.

“I didn’t mean to wake Jam up. Did I wake anyone else up?” Lydia asked quietly, with her eyes still closed.

“It’s not your fault babes, and no, everyone is sound asleep.”

“good...” Lydia barely whispered, scooting closer to Beetlejuice. 

_ ‘Good’? All of those losers need their asses kicked. But, as long as Lydia is not bothered by it, then that’s all that matters. _ Out of nowhere, he felt Lydia start shivering.

“You cold babes?” He asked, looking down at her. She nodded her head. “Here, sit up for a second.” 

Lydia halfway up as Beetlejuice sat straight up and took his hoodie off, now revealing a black NIRVANA t-shirt; then he helped Lydia put it on. As soon as she had the hoodie on, that was three sizes too big for her, Lydia pulled the hood over her head. She then wrapped her arms back around Beetlejuice and instantly drifted asleep. When Beetlejuice saw that Lydia was happy, comfortable, and safe in his arms, he too fell asleep.

***

Early that morning, Lydia felt like shit. Everything felt like shit to her today.  _ But at least I still have Beetlejuice’s hoodie on. _ All night Lydia was breathing in his scent, something that she was now starting to enjoy.

“Good morning! Lydia, deary, time to wake up. We have a family meeting.” Delia busted into Lydia’s room and said extremely cheery.  _ I will jump off the roof if she starts singing. _ Lydia moaned to herself, slowly waking up.

She rolled over, Beetlejuice wasn’t next to her anymore, right away she saw him lying down on the window seat.  _ I guess he didn’t want to get caught sleeping next to me.  _ She looked at the clock.  _ 7 AM! Delia has the audacity to wake me up at 7 IN THE FREAKING MORNING AFTER EVERYTHING I’VE BEEN THROUGH! _

“Come on deary, I know it’s summer, but you just can’t sleep in till one.” Delia smiled, patting Lydia on top of her head.

“You don’t understand what I have been through these last three days,” Lydia said sharply, sitting up in her bed.

“You don’t know what  _ I’ve _ been through honey! Delayed flights, long lines, no Starbucks for a five-mile radius! This business trip was hell for me, dear. I just might not go on another one of your father’s business trips again.” Delia complained, her cheeriness thrown out the window at the ‘dreaded’ memory of no Starbucks. 

_ Change of plan, I now want to throw Delia off the roof. How dare she say those things! I’ll have to get with Beej later to hatch a plan to scare the crap out of her. _

“Listen to your mother and come downstairs, NOW, both of you!” Charles roared, sticking his head in the doorway. Almost at once, Lydia jumped out of bed, Beetlejuice followed right on her heels down the stairs and stopped in between the kitchen and the living room.

For a few heartbeats, all six of the ghosts and breathers didn’t say a single word, until Charles butchered the silence.

“Get out of my house.” Charles erupted unexpectedly, pointing at Beetlejuice.

“Dad! No!” Lydia pleaded.

“Charles, let us talk about this,” Delia suggested quietly.

“No! Shut up!” Charles paused, taking a deep breath and lowering his voice. 

“Get. Out. Of. My. House. Now.” he threatened with eloquence.

“But I-” 

“He’s not leaving!” Lydia interrupted Beetlejuice, grabbing his arm.

“Go to your room young lady, your grounded.-” Charles’ voice kept rising, now pointing at Lydia. 

She could clearly see a few forehead veins popping out.  _ I have never seen Dad this angry before, but I can’t let his threats win. Not today, I don’t care what I say to him anymore, right now he’s not my father anymore. _

“But dad, he-” Lydia interrupted her father.

“Getting yourself exorcised and possessed just to prank us-”

“It wasn’t a prank!” Lydia interrupted Charles again, but he ignored his teenage daughter and kept yelling.

“- is totally irresponsible and immature!”

“If you would shut up and listen to me for one goddamn minute-” Lydia spat, stomping over to her father and leaned right in his face.   
  


“Shut your mouth and quit disrespecting me!” Charles stood up straight.

“IF BEETLEJUICE GOES THEN I GO TOO!” Lydia squinted her eyes, curled her fists in a tight ball, and screamed as loud as her lungs could allow her.

For a whole minute, but felt like an eternity, the house stood deathly silent. The only thing that Lydia could hear is her pounding heart booming like a drum in her ears and the sound of her gasping for air. Lydia broke the silence this time.

“I need him! He’s not _ just _ my best friend, he’s more than that, and you all will never understand what he means to me! I will say this again, if he leaves I go with him. And if that happens, I am never coming back. So all of you just shut up and drop this whole thing right now!” Lydia said at almost a normal tone, she turned and stomped halfway up the stairs. But she turned around and leaped back down.

“Oh, and by the way. You too were supposed to be helping me and Beetlejuice, not randomly vanishing. I don’t care where you two were, but we needed your help, and you just walked away. And that is unforgivable to me.” Lydia snapped, pointing a crooked finger at the Maitlands. Then Lydia turned to Delia and slipped her hands in the hoodie pocket.

“You don’t know what hell is Delia. You have no right telling me how bad you had it these last few days, you haven’t been through what I’ve been through! You haven’t been raped, beaten, watched the person you love get the crap beaten out of him twice, have two people die right in front of you, or been possessed.” She took a sharp quick breath, now addressing all the adults. 

“And where were all of you last night when I needed you, hm? I was throwing up all night, and Beej was right by my side the entire time, taking care of me.” Another long pause choked the old house, but this time, it felt more awkward. Lydia broke the silence again.

“Now, I’m going to go back to sleep because I feel like shit. Namaste you freaking dumbasses!” 

Lydia then quickly turned towards Beetlejuice, aggressively grabbed his arm, and practically dragged him up the stairs and into her room. She then slammed her door as hard as she could.

“Um. Lydia, what just happened?” Beetlejuice asked with confusion and fear in his voice.

“I don’t know. I don’t care what dad says or does to me, your not leaving.” She started angrily pacing the floor, running her hands through her hair. 

“What you said about the ‘person you love get the crap beat out of him twice’, were you talking about me?” Beetlejuice asked, standing in front of Lydia.

“Yes! Who else would I be talking about?” Lydia started shouting again.

“D... Do you have feelings for me?” Beetlejuice stuttered.

Lydia didn’t hear him ask that question, so much anger and betrail was inside of her; she wanted to scream or do something even more reckless. 

Without even thinking, Lydia grabbed Beetlejuice’s shirt with both of her fists, and yanked him towards her and kissed the demon hard.

***

Before Beetlejuice could even think, Lydia quickly pulled him towards her and kissed him hard on the lips. Instantly, he could feel his hair turn bright pink, and he kept his eyes open for a few seconds before being overwhelmed by the solid adrenaline running through this entire body and soul. Beetlejuice’s insides felt like they were exploding, he couldn’t quite explain what he was feeling. 

Suddenly he realized he was kissing her back, had his hands on her waist, and she hasn’t pulled away yet. Beetlejuice knew Lydia well enough that if she wanted him to stop, she sure would let him know. Now both of her hands started running through Beetlejuice’s pink hair. Beej couldn’t tell if his hair was severely tangled up or if Lydia was pulling on it, either way, the demon enjoyed it.  _ I don’t know why right now, but her kissing me feels different than all the other times I’ve kissed someone. Maybe...... Maybe couples were right about that feeling when you know someone is your soul mate. What if Lydia is my soulmate?  _ Beetlejuice thought randomly. 

The feeling of his t-shirt being pulled up past his chubby belly brought him back to reality. They were still kissing and Lydia was starting to take his shirt off. He swiftly lifted his arms up awkwardly trying to help her. At first, all of his pain from his injuries melted away; but now the pain is back again and all at once. Beetlejuice accidentally bit Lydia’s lower lip with his sharp teeth. 

“Ow!” Lydia reacted, pulling back for a second to breathe.

“Sorry.” He mumbled quickly. In a few short movements, Lydia’s baggy hoodie and t-shirt were off, now revealing her bra. 

Out of nowhere, she stopped kissing him, pulled back quickly, then pushed him as hard as she could; causing him to fall flat on his butt, right next to Lydia’s bed.

“No, no, no, no, no, no! What am I doing? What have I done?” Lydia’s voice filled with anxiety as she stepped away, and started walking in circles with her bare arms wrapped around her chest.

“Lydia, calm down, it’s ok. I’m not mad. Did I do something wrong?” Beetlejuice asked, jumping up and tried calming her down while putting his shirt back on.

“You didn’t make a mistake, I did. Crap! I shouldn’t have done that, I’m so sorry. We’re still friends right?” Lydia grabbed Beetlejuice’s wrists and stared into his glowing green eyes. By now, his hair is now back to its normal shade of green.

“Of course! Nothing you do will ever change that.” the demon reassured her. 

***

A knock on Lydia’s door brought the two back to reality. 

“Lydia, it’s just me. Is everything ok in there?” Barbara’s gentle voice said through the door.

“Where is my shirt?” Lydia mouthed to Beetlejuice, he just shrugged his shoulders. Lydia scrambled around her room looking for something to cover herself with, the hoodie and shirt seemed to vanish. She almost screamed when she heard the doorknob start turning.  _ Oh no, I forgot to lock the door! _ Lydia thought of a plan quickly.

“Sorry Beej.” She muttered under her breath, pushing him towards the door.

“Beej, I told you to get out, I’m changing in here!” Lydia yelled as Barbara opened the door. 

The ghost almost got plowed over by Beetlejuice as Lydia kindly shoved him out of her room. As soon as he was out, Lydia shut her door and remembered to lock it this time.  _ Why did I kiss him! I’m such an idiot!  _ Lydia took a deep breath before leaning her back against her door and slid to the floor. She buried her face in the knees of her fuzzy PJ bottoms and started crying.  _ What have I done? _

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, or shot me a message if you have feedback. Thank you for reading!


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